EU rules on democratic governance need updating

The question of how or whether the European Union as a whole can respond to violations of liberal democratic norms among its members has come up frequently in discussions about Hungary since Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party came to power in 2010.

Over the past three years, the government has taken a number of steps that resulted in the erosion of checks and balances and the rule of law, eliciting widespread criticism from the international community and triggering declines in most Fre...