The impact of European Green Deal on liberal democracy: a perspective through the lens of Hayek’s book "Road to Serfdom"

In his bestseller book The Road to Serfdom, published 80 years ago, F.A. Hayek argued that any form of collectivist governmental planning of the economy not only fails to deliver sustainable prosperity, but also poses a serious threat to democracy. With the Green Deal, the European Union attempts for the first time in its history to subordinate all economic activity under an overarching goal, namely environmental and climate protection. Against this background, the author of this article revisits Hayek’s arguments and – based on a qualitative analysis of documents and web-resources of major political actors – answers the following research questions: why, how and to what extent the Green Deal contains the potential to turn European societies to the road to serfdom, with special focus on Germany. The author argues that while the Green Deal contains many elements of the Hayekian explanation that push the EU’s societies down the road to serfdom, democracy has so far proved resilient.