Carrots and stick. The use of EU funds to enforce the Rule of law in Hungary
The idiom «carrots and stick» is often illustrated with the image of a jockey riding a donkey. The rider tries to persuade the animal to go faster by hanging a carrot in front of the donkey, on the one hand, and by using a stick to hit the poor beast, on the other. If we apply this metaphor to explain how the EU tried to convince the Orbán government to take steps toward the respect of the Rule of law, we must conclude that for twelve long years the donkey clearly outsmarted the rider.
