Rule of Law Conditionality: The Long-awaited Step Towards a Solution of the Rule of Law Crisis in the European Union?

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2021 6(1), 101-110 | European Forum Insight of 22 April 2021 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. The adoption of the Conditionality Regulation. - III. Preconditions of the Regulation. - IV. Procedural steps of the Regulation. - V. Substantive definitions of the Regulation. - VI. Sanctions under the Regulation. - VII. The Rule of Law in the Member States v the Rule of Law of the Institutions? - VIII. Prospects of the Conditionality Regulation. | (Abstract) In December 2020, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a new piece of legislation aimed at protecting the rule of law in the Member States of the Union - the so-called rule of law Conditionality Regulation. This contribution tracks the legislative process in the run up to the new Regulation, analyses the sub-stance and the procedure, and provides an outlook onto the future application and its obstacles. Finally, and by placing a particular emphasise on the Conclusions of the European Council in December 2020, this contribution inquires whether the European Council exceeded its remit by giving the European Commission precise instructions regarding the application of the new Regulation.

Keywords

• conditionality
• rule of law
• effective judicial protection
• institutional balance
• multiannual financial framework
• next generation fund