Dependency meets illiberalism: expansion of the EV battery sector in Central Europe – new study by Judit Ricz and Andrea Éltető in Post-Communist Economies

Abstract

In the emerging new geopolitical landscape, Central European (CE) economies experiment with alternative approaches, leading to the rise of illiberal politics and changed economic governance. With Hungary being the most critical example of a DME coupled with illiberal political tendencies, this study compares six Central European countries’ EV battery ambitions and strategies as well as the consequences thereof. Being a hub for the European automotive industry over the last decades, the CE countries’ recent turn towards the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries is a step to reposition themselves in these regional value chains. Our exploratory study compares the main ambitions and strategies of the creation of the new EV battery sector across six Central European countries in the dependency-illiberalism nexus. Our results prove that besides the dependency arguments, illiberal political as well as geopolitical and strategic considerations are the main driving forces of recent changes.