Upholding the Rule of Law in the EU: On the Commission's ‘Pre-Article 7 Procedure’ as a Timid Step in the Right Direction

(2015) 11 European Constitutional Law Review, pp. 512-540 [an enlarged version under the title "Monitoring and Enforcement of the Rule of Law in the EU: Rhetoric and Reality"]

Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper No. RSCAS 2015/24

24 Pages Posted: 3 Jul 2015 Last revised: 21 Dec 2015

See all articles by Dimitry Kochenov

Dimitry Kochenov

CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest; CEU Department of Legal Studies, Vienna

Laurent Pech

UCD Sutherland School of Law; CEU Democracy Institute

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 1, 2015

Abstract

This paper provides a detailed analysis of two institutional reforms, respectively put forward by the European Commission in March 2014 and by the Council of the EU in December 2014 – on how to tackle the problem of Member States’ non-compliance with the principle of the rule of law, which is one of the fundamental values of the Union according to Article 2 TEU. It is submitted that while both proposals definitely represent a timid step in the right direction, the Commission’s ‘light-touch’ proposal falls short of what is required to effectively address ongoing and serious threats to the rule of law within the EU but is however clearly preferable to the Council’s alternative proposal to hold an annual rule of law dialogue among all Member States within the Council itself.

Keywords: Rule of Law, EU values, Hungary, Article 2 TEU, Article 7 TEU, pre-Article 7 procedure.

Suggested Citation

Kochenov, Dimitry and Kochenov, Dimitry and Pech, Laurent, Upholding the Rule of Law in the EU: On the Commission's ‘Pre-Article 7 Procedure’ as a Timid Step in the Right Direction (April 1, 2015). (2015) 11 European Constitutional Law Review, pp. 512-540 [an enlarged version under the title "Monitoring and Enforcement of the Rule of Law in the EU: Rhetoric and Reality"], Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Paper No. RSCAS 2015/24, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2625602 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2625602

Dimitry Kochenov (Contact Author)

CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest ( email )

Nador utca 9
Budapest, H-1051
Hungary

CEU Department of Legal Studies, Vienna ( email )

Quellenstraße 51
Vienna, 1100
Austria

Laurent Pech

UCD Sutherland School of Law ( email )

Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland

CEU Democracy Institute

Nador u. 13
Budapest
Hungary

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