Protection of the rule of law in the European Union – crucial problems Cover Image

Ochrona praworządności w Unii Europejskiej – węzłowe problemy
Protection of the rule of law in the European Union – crucial problems

Author(s): Iga Małobęcka-Szwast, Magdalena Porzeżyńska
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Political Sciences
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: rule of law; Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union; Article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; values of the European Union

Summary/Abstract: Reforms of the judicial system implemented in Poland in recent years and the rule of law proceedings initiated in their aftermath by the European Commission in January 2016 have contributed to the discussion within theframework of the international scholarly conference “Protecting European Union Values: Breaches of Article2 TEU and its Consequences” organised by the Chair of European Law, Faculty of Law and Administration,in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg. Basing on the speeches presented during theconference, in this article authors define the concept of the rule of law as one of the fundamental EU values,as well as analyse the existing violations of the rule of law in other Member States. An attempt was alsomade to assess the mechanisms protecting the rule of law, which result from the treaties (including Article 7 TEU and Article 258 TFEU), and propose supplementing them with a decentralised rule of law protectionmechanism. Such mechanism should engage the whole EU legal system, including national courts, in protecting EU values, as assumed by the concept of “Rule of Law Argument” and the horizontal Solange test.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 183-193
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: Polish