In Brussels, where power often hides in plain sight, few know its rhythms better than former diplomat Gábor Baranyai. A two-time envoy to the European capital and a seasoned legal expert, Baranyai’s career path reflects not only the arc of Hungarian diplomacy, but also the institutional undercurrents shaping the EU’s political core.
Author: Szilvia Kecsmar
In a recent episode of CEA Talk, Baranyai spoke with striking candor about what comes after life in foreign service, what it really means to “start over” in the city of policymakers, and how the European Commission is evolving—sometimes awkwardly, often unaccountably—under growing pressure from within and beyond its walls.
From Ambassador to Outsider
Baranyai, once Hungary’s permanent representative to the EU, knows both the power and precarity of institutional life. His dismissal by the prime minister, as he describes it, came swiftly and without much ceremony. It marked a professional and personal rupture. “I’ve been dealing with searching for a new life and occupation in Brussels since October 2022,” he notes, neither bitter nor triumphant—simply pragmatic.
Brussels, for all its policy heft, isn’t always kind to former diplomats. Baranyai, self-described as a “political person, a true civil servant,” quickly learned that post-diplomatic life offers fewer ready-made pathways than many assume. “It’s better if you’re a specialist—someone who knows EU rules inside out. That gets you in the room.”
What followed was a patchwork of consultancy, law firm work, part-time teaching, and parenting. “It’s not super busy, but it’s busy enough,” he says, with the tone of someone who has made peace with a more fragmented, freelance version of purpose.
The Brussels Market: Merit vs. Myth
Baranyai’s observations on Brussels’ professional terrain are both sharp and unsparing. He describes the capital’s consulting world as “hierarchical and saturated,” a city where success often favors those with well-cultivated phonebooks over actual insight. “Everyone’s trading in information. Your biggest asset here isn’t what you know—it’s who knows you.”
There’s a touch of satire in how he recounts interactions with think tanks, law firms, and corporate reps. “Some are extremely lazy,” he laughs. “They want access, not advice. And they’re not eager to pay for it unless it’s locked behind a multinational badge.” His attempts to engage with lobby firms were limited, and perhaps for good reason: “I wasn’t aspiring to become a lobbyist—but I may have ended up in that bracket by accident.”
The Bureaucracy from Within—and Without
When asked about the future of the EU’s bureaucracy, Baranyai doesn’t mince words. His view of the European Commission is layered—part admiration, part critique. He praises the “overdriven planetary-level” talent at the top but warns of a growing stagnation below.
“The Commission is built on perverse incentives,” he says. “You can’t be fired. You move slowly, if at all. So many people stop optimizing their work entirely—they just wait out the years until pension.”
Worse, he argues, is a centralisation of influence that tilts toward Cabinet-level aides rather than directorates. “The President’s cabinets now hold disproportionate control. That’s not sustainable.”
It’s a system that looks stable from the outside but is riddled with quiet dysfunction within—driven by politics, opacity, and a deep resistance to structural reform.
Green Deals and Grey Realities
Baranyai’s legal and policy expertise shines most clearly when he shifts to the EU’s climate and regulatory agenda. Once a lead negotiator on the Green Deal and the “Fit for 55” package, he offers a sobering view of how quickly the political winds have shifted.
“Three years ago, everyone was doing their environmental pilgrimage,” he says. “Even the biggest polluters were pledging net zero overnight.” Today? The mood has changed. Economic pressures, legislative overload, and political fatigue have shifted the agenda from ambition to retreat.
Baranyai criticizes what he calls “omnibus legislation”—mega-packages of law that blur transparency and sideline institutional expertise. “It’s become a tactic. Proposals now come bundled across portfolios. It creates confusion and gives the Commission too much discretion.”
His concern is that this procedural sleight-of-hand undermines the very goals the Green Deal was built to serve. “Cutting back on red tape is one thing. But when you deregulate the substance, the climate targets start to collapse.”
Expat Life and the Hungarian Disconnect
Brussels may be a city of networks, but for Baranyai, its Hungarian expat scene remains strikingly fragmented. “We’re not the most community-minded people,” he admits. “And politically, the Hungarian government’s combative stance toward EU institutions alienates many of its own officials here.”
The result? Missed opportunities, limited influence, and a disjointed diaspora. Compared to more cohesive national groups—he cites the Danes, Romanians, and Spaniards—Hungarians in Brussels struggle to build sustainable support systems.
Still, he sees glimmers of purpose in academic work. His current research, focused on transboundary water policy, has earned EU-level recognition. “Water will be one of the defining issues of the next decades,” he says. “It’s under-regulated, underfunded, and increasingly weaponised.”
A Personal Reset with Public Implications
What’s striking about Baranyai’s story is not just the political substance—it’s the tone of reflection. This is not a tale of professional failure, but of recalibration. His transition from ambassador to consultant and professor is emblematic of a broader European phenomenon: the quiet migration of public servants into the uncertain territory of soft power, informal networks, and freelance influence.
His final words are less about career goals and more about long-term responsibility: “Diplomacy doesn’t end. It evolves. It adapts. Sometimes, it even starts over.”
In an age where Europe’s institutions face renewed scrutiny and where legitimacy is increasingly tied to transparency and function—not just form—Baranyai’s reflections offer both a caution and a call.
What happens after the ministry, after the titles and the emblems, may be where the future of European influence is truly written.
For more insights on Central European political risk, EU institutional developments, and transatlantic relations, follow CEA Magazine and the CEA Talk podcast.
The article was made possible by Prosum Foundation, with the support of an Atlas Network grant, within the framework of the Re:Hungary project.
Cover photo credit: https://vtk.uni-nke.hu
Szilvia Kecsmar is a writer, journalist, and media informatics specialist, serving as the editor-in-chief of CEA Magazine.
