When and how does government ideology shape state participation in EU policymaking?

In the age of polarisation, political ideologies have become increasingly important factors shaping participation in EU policymaking. Although previous research has shown that ideology and political values influence government voting behaviour in the Council, much less is known about how ideology impacts government preparation for and participation in Council negotiations as existing work focuses solely on select highly salient issues. This paper aims to alleviate this gap by analysing both how negotiating mandates are made and represented in the Council across different policy areas. It uses Hungary as a case study because the hegemonic positions of Viktor Orbán’s autocratic, populist, Eurosceptic, and radical right Fidesz-KNDP coalition make Hungary a most-likely case of government ideology having an impact. Drawing on over 30 semi-structured elite interviews with government officials with diverse policy backgrounds and institutional affiliations, the paper shows that the characteristics of the policy field and the proposals’ connection to domestically sensitive topics fundamentally determines how Hungary approaches negotiations. If the proposal relates to a policy area where Member States retain competencies and has a compulsory effect, or the content is politically sensitive, then Hungary’s approach is determined at the highest political level, and the country participates in the policymaking process in line with the findings of the populist unpolitics literature. In contrast, when passing Council recommendations or when the proposal does not involve a domestically politicised topic, horizontal political considerations play little to no role and the country’s mandate and negotiation strategy are determined by experts.