The right-wing nationalist majority in the Hungarian parliament wants to abolish the directly elected European Parliament and return to one composed of deputies appointed by Member States.
A resolution to this effect was approved in parliament in Budapest by 130 deputies from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, while 50 parliamentarians voted against.
Members of the European Parliament have been directly elected since 1979. Before then, the legislative body was made up of national members of parliament.
The resolution passed by the Hungarian Parliament also calls for a move away from the ambition to establish an "ever closer union" of European peoples with the EU, as described in Article 1 of the European Treaty. This is one of the absolute pillars of the Union.
With his ambition to make Hungary an "illiberal" democracy, Orbàn has been on a collision course with the EU for years, and the European Commission has accused him of undermining the rule of law and democracy.
Critics say it is virtually impossible to vote out a majority at elections under the Orban system.
Hungary's strongman says he wants to restore his country's "sovereignty" and defend its "Christian and national values." The cosmopolitan and technocratic European Union only jeopardizes those values, Orbàn believes.
