Elephants in the Room: The European Commission’s 2019 Communication on the Rule of Law

Kochenov, Dimitry

doi:10.1007/s40803-019-00126-x

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Although not conceptualized as a mismatch, scholarly work on the EU's and the Commission's responses to rule of law backsliding has extensively criticized this ‘discursive approach’ (Kochenov and Pech, 2015, p. 532). Scholars are sceptical regarding the Commission's institutional innovations and the capacity of those innovations to reverse backsliding precisely because of their ‘soft’ nature (Kochenov and Pech, 2015, 2016; Blauberger, 2016; Kochenov, 2019; Uitz, 2019). To summarize this criticism, the Commission's strategy ‘is based on the misguided assumption that a discursive approach with would‐be autocrats can work’ (Pech and Kochenov, 2019, p. 3).…”

Section: Management Instead Of Enforcement Of Eu Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Commission's Approach to Rule of Law Backsliding: Managing Instead of Enforcing Democratic Values?

Priebus

2022

J of Common Market Studies

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In response to noncompliance with the EU's fundamental values such as democracy and the rule of law in Hungary and Poland, the EU Commission has established the Justice Scoreboard, the Rule of Law Framework and the Rule of Law Mechanism. Moreover, the Commission has proposed linking the disbursement of funds to respect for the rule of law (Rule of Law conditionality). However, the deployment of these measures has not restored compliance. Drawing on the two dominant approaches in compliance studies, the management approach and the enforcement approach, this paper argues that with the exception of Rule of Law conditionality, the Commission's tools are characterized by a mismatch between the causes of the problems identified and the solutions chosen. Instead of sanctioning voluntary noncompliance, they rely on soft measures, which are recommended in cases of involuntary noncompliance, but which are not suitable in cases of deliberate noncompliance.

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Section: Management Instead Of Enforcement Of Eu Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Commission's Approach to Rule of Law Backsliding: Managing Instead of Enforcing Democratic Values?

Priebus

2022

J of Common Market Studies

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“…Especial preocupación causaban tres asuntos: la independencia del banco central nacional; la independencia de la autoridad de protección de datos, y las medidas relativas al Poder Judicial, que anticipaban drásticamente la edad de jubilación de los jueces a la edad de 62 años 57 . 53 Kochenov (2019): 424. 54 Pérez de Nanclares (2019): 152.…”

Section: La Persuasión Política Y La Interposición De Recursos De Incunclassified

Las instituciones europeas ante la crisis del Estado de derecho en Hungría y Polonia

Atienza

2020

Hist. Polít. Ideas, Procesos Mov. Soc.

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Este artículo aborda la crisis del Estado de derecho en Hungría y Polonia, situándola en el marco de la historia de la integración europea. Desde mediados de los años noventa, la Unión se fue dotando progresivamente de procedimientos específicos con el fin de que sus instituciones pudiesen responder a una eventual vulneración de sus valores por parte de un Estado miembro. Este proceso respondía particularmente a la inminencia de una quinta ampliación cuya dimensión no tenía precedentes y que habría de incorporar a Estados de corta trayectoria democrática. Años después, en un contexto marcado por el auge de los populismos, la deriva iliberal de los Gobiernos húngaro y polaco ha provocado el primer uso de los nuevos procedimientos, poniendo de manifiesto su insuficiencia ante una crisis de esta naturaleza y mostrando los límites de la capacidad de influencia de la Unión Europea después de la adhesión.

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“…20-21; European Commission, A New EU Framework to Strengthen the Rule of Law (2014) (COM(2014)158); European Parliament, Report with Recommendations to the Commission on the Establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights (2016) (2015/2254(INL)). For a comparison of all these instruments, see , Kochenov and Pech (2016), Oliver and Stefanelli (2016); but see Hirsch , , Kochenov and Pech (2015a); See also Kochenov (2019c).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Article 7: A Commentary on a Much Talked-About ‘Dead’ Provision

Kochenov

2021

Beiträge Zum Ausländischen Öffentlichen Recht Und Völkerrecht

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The goal of this chapter is to contribute to the growing Article 7 TEU literature by showcasing the strong and weak points of this provision in the context of the on-going rule of law backsliding in Hungary and Poland threatening the very fabric of EU constitutionalism. This is done by presenting the general context of the institutional reactions to the so-called ‘reforms’ in Poland and Hungary aimed to hijack the state machinery by the political parties in charge; introducing the background of Article 7 TEU and the hopes of the drafters the provision was endowed with; to move on to the analysis of its scope and all the procedures made available through this instrument as well as the key procedural rules in place. The conclusion restates the necessity of putting our hopes in alternative instruments of combatting rule of law backsliding, outlining three possible scenarios of this, which are not (necessarily) connected to Article 7 as such.

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Elephants in the Room: The European Commission’s 2019 Communication on the Rule of Law

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

The Commission's Approach to Rule of Law Backsliding: Managing Instead of Enforcing Democratic Values?

The Commission's Approach to Rule of Law Backsliding: Managing Instead of Enforcing Democratic Values?

Las instituciones europeas ante la crisis del Estado de derecho en Hungría y Polonia

Article 7: A Commentary on a Much Talked-About ‘Dead’ Provision

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