At the Europe as a Global Actor? A Historical Perspective conference hosted by Roma Tre University, Ádám Kerényi (ELTE Centre for Social Sciences) presented a lecture analysing Hungary’s economic convergence within the European Union in comparison to other post-socialist member states.
Drawing on Eurostat data and historical policy analysis, Kerényi argued that while the 11 Eastern enlargement countries (EU11) have significantly narrowed the development gap with the EU27 average since accession Hungary’s progress has lagged behind its regional peers. The lecture identified two key drivers of convergence across the EU11: access to the Single Market and substantial net EU transfers. However, in Hungary’s case these advantages were offset by institutional distortions under the post-2010 illiberal policy regime.
According to Kerényi, reindustrialisation efforts focused on low value-added assembly investments, while welfare retrenchment and institutional centralisation weakened long-term productivity. Recent suspensions of EU cohesion funding under rule-of-law conditionality further threaten the country’s position within the convergence “club”.