While the European Union claims to be committed to democracy, in recent years it has allowed some member state governments – most notably in Hungary and Poland – to backslide toward authoritarianism by attacking judicial independence, press freedom, and other fundamental democratic values. Now the EU has become stuck in an “autocracy trap”, in which hybrid authoritarian regimes are able to thrive within the Union, making a mockery of its professed values while benefiting from its subsidies. In this talk, Prof. Kelemen will examine the political factors behind this autocracy trap, outline the steps EU leaders would need to take to escape it, and assess the prospects of their doing so.