List of European Union member states by political system

Member states of the European Union use various forms of democracy. The European Union (EU) is a sui generis supranational union of states. At a European Council Summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 June and 22 June 1993,^[2] the European Union defined the Copenhagen criteria regarding the conditions a candidate country has to fulfill to be considered eligible for accession to the European Union:

Membership criteria require that the candidate country must have achieved:
stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities;

the existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union;

the ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union.^[3]^[4]

Consequently, all member states have direct elections, nominally democratic states that are considered to be "free" or "partly free" according to the criteria of Freedom House. As of 2020, there is no expert consensus on how to classify Hungary's regime type; Freedom House considers it a hybrid regime.^[5]^[6]^[7] As of 2015, all European Union member states are representative democracies; however, they do not all have the same political system, with most of the differences arising from different historical backgrounds.

Many of the states in the neighbourhood of the European Union are not considered to be "free" by the same criteria.^[1] Most European states neighbouring the European Union are considered to be "free" or "partly free" by Freedom House, with the exceptions of Azerbaijan, Belarus and Russia. On the other hand, almost all of the states in North Africa and Southwest Asia that neighbour the European Union are not considered to be "free", with the exceptions of Israel and Tunisia.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c Freedom House (6 February 2019). "2019". Freedom in the World. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^ European Commission (6 May 2006). "1993". The History of the European Union. Archived from the original on 24 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2006.
^ European Commission (27 March 2006). "Accession criteria". Understanding enlargement. Archived from the original on 28 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.
^ European Commission. "Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria)". Retrieved 5 March 2016.
^ Körösényi, András; Illés, Gábor; Gyulai, Attila (15 April 2020). The Orbán Regime: Plebiscitary Leader Democracy in the Making. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-429-62441-4. This colourful and wide picture of labelling shows not only the inventive imagination of scholars, but also the lack of scholarly consensus on how to characterise the contemporary regime that has emerged in Hungary
^ Drinóczi, Tímea; Bień-Kacała, Agnieszka (2021). Illiberal Constitutionalism in Poland and Hungary: The Deterioration of Democracy, Misuse of Human Rights and Abuse of the Rule of Law. Routledge. pp. 18, 21. ISBN 978-1-032-00730-4. Political scientists call the Hungarian political system a hybrid regime, standing between democracy and authoritarianism, a diffusely defective democracy, and a plebiscitary leader democracy. Lately, Freedom House has labelled Hungary as a transitional or hybrid regime (based on its democracy score).
^ Boda, Zsolt; Szúcs, Zoltán Gábor (2021). "When Illiberalism Meets Neoliberalism: State and the Social Sciences in Present Hungary". Political Science in the Shadow of the State: Research, Relevance, Deference. Springer International Publishing. pp. 203–230 [208]. ISBN 978-3-030-75918-6. By now there is widespread agreement on the fact that Hungary is not a democracy anymore (as reflected in the conclusions of V-Dem, Freedom House and a range of global democracy barometers).

[Freedom_House-1] Freedom House (6 February 2019). "2019". Freedom in the World. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

[2] European Commission (6 May 2006). "1993". The History of the European Union. Archived from the original on 24 July 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2006.

[3] European Commission (27 March 2006). "Accession criteria". Understanding enlargement. Archived from the original on 28 August 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.

[4] European Commission. "Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria)". Retrieved 5 March 2016.

[5] Körösényi, András; Illés, Gábor; Gyulai, Attila (15 April 2020). The Orbán Regime: Plebiscitary Leader Democracy in the Making. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-429-62441-4. This colourful and wide picture of labelling shows not only the inventive imagination of scholars, but also the lack of scholarly consensus on how to characterise the contemporary regime that has emerged in Hungary

[6] Drinóczi, Tímea; Bień-Kacała, Agnieszka (2021). Illiberal Constitutionalism in Poland and Hungary: The Deterioration of Democracy, Misuse of Human Rights and Abuse of the Rule of Law. Routledge. pp. 18, 21. ISBN 978-1-032-00730-4. Political scientists call the Hungarian political system a hybrid regime, standing between democracy and authoritarianism, a diffusely defective democracy, and a plebiscitary leader democracy. Lately, Freedom House has labelled Hungary as a transitional or hybrid regime (based on its democracy score).

[7] Boda, Zsolt; Szúcs, Zoltán Gábor (2021). "When Illiberalism Meets Neoliberalism: State and the Social Sciences in Present Hungary". Political Science in the Shadow of the State: Research, Relevance, Deference. Springer International Publishing. pp. 203–230 [208]. ISBN 978-3-030-75918-6. By now there is widespread agreement on the fact that Hungary is not a democracy anymore (as reflected in the conclusions of V-Dem, Freedom House and a range of global democracy barometers).

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