Challenges of Rule of Law Conditionality in EU Accession
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46282/blr.2023.7.1.327Keywords:
EU, Rule of Law, Rule of Law Conditionality, EU Accession, Western Balkan countries, effectiveness, coherenceAbstract
EU enlargement process towards the Western Balkan countries has been in place since the 2003 Thessaloniki summit. However, the expected democratic transformation and fostering of the rule of law values have not become a reality, while rule of law conditionality has been criticized as ineffective in achieving its goals. In parallel, the EU has been struggling with rule of law backsliding internally, and, in order to tackle this issue, has developed a multitude of instruments that have so far had limited effects on internal rule of law promotion. The paper supports the idea that there is a need for approximation of the rule of law standards in the EU’s internal and accession policies. After providing a bird’s-eye-view of the position of the rule of law in EU accession negotiations with WB countries, the authors go on to elaborate on the four major causes contributing to the EU’s lack of effectiveness and coherence in the WB accession process. In doing so, the authors provide recommendations on how to improve the convergence between internal and accession rule of law policies and foster a common understanding of the rule of law as a core pre-and post-accession value in the EU.
References
Abazi Imeri, A., Ivanovska, A., and Hrasnica, A. (2018). Reforming from the Bench. The (in)effectiveness of THE EU benchmarking mechanism in the Western Balkans. BENCHER. European Fund for the Balkans.
Baere, G. De. (2012). European Integration and the Rule of Law in Foreign Policy*. In J. Dickson and P. Eleftheriadis (Eds.), Philosophical Foundations of European Union Law (pp. 354–383). Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588770.003.0014
Bajić, D., and Marić, S. (2018). Benchmarking within Chapters 23 and 24 in Accession Negotiation with Serbia, Effects and Challenges. BENCHER. European Fund for the Balkans.
Bieber, F., and Kmezić, M. (2020). Protecting the rule of law in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. Stockholm: Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies.
Börzel, T. A., and Pamuk, Y. (2012). Pathologies of Europeanisation: Fighting Corruption in the Southern Caucasus. West European Politics, 35(1), 79–97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2012.631315
Change in Democracy Status. In Freedom House, available at: https://freedomhouse.org/explore-the-map?type=nit&year=2022&mapview=trend (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Ćeranić, J. (2017). Flexibility Concept in the Context of European Integration – Evolution, Survey and Perspectives. Strani Pravni Život, 61(4), 9–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56461/spz17401C
Ćeranić Perišić, J. (2020a). Bliža integracija zemalja Zapadnog Balkana sa Evropskom unijom na osnovu nove metodologije proširenja EU. Srpska Politička Misao, 69(3), 153–177.
Ćeranić Perišić, J. (2020b). Prospects for Integration in the Western Balkans. In Current Challenges of European Integration. Zurich: EIZ Publishing.
Coman, R. (2020). Democracy and the Rule of Law: How Can the EU Uphold its Common Values? In Governance and Politics in the Post-Crisis European Union (pp. 358–377). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108612609.021
Craig, P. (2020). EU Membership: Formal and Substantive Dimensions. Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, 22, 1–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cel.2020.5
Dabrowski, M. (2020). Can the EU overcome its enlargement impasse? Bruegel. Available at: https://www.bruegel.org/2020/02/can-the-european-union-overcome-its-enlargement- impasse/ (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Damjanovski, I., Hillion, C., and Preshova, D. (2020). Uniformity and Differentiation in the Fundamentals of EU Membership: The EU Rule of Law Acquis in the Pre- and Post-accession Contexts. EU IDEA Research Papers.
Dimitrova, A. (2016). The EU’s Evolving Enlargement Strategies. Does Tougher Conditionality Open the Door for Further Enlargement? Maxcap Working Paper No. 30. Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin.
Editorial Comments: Fundamental rights and EU membership: Do as I say, not as I do! (2012). Common Market Law Review, 49(2), 481–488. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54648/COLA2012017
Eisl, A. (2020). How would the EU accession procedure really improve? Paris: Jacques Delors Institute.
Emerson, M., Lazarević, M., Blockmans, S., and Subotić, S. (2021). A Template for Staged Accession to the EU. CEPS. Available at: https://cep.org.rs/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/A-Template-for-Staged-Accession-to-the-EU.pdf (accessed on 15.05.2023).
EU-Serbia: A stagnation comfortable for both sides. In EURACTIV, June 18, 2021. Available at: https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/opinion/eu-serbia-a-stagnation-comfortable-for-both-sides/ (accessed on 15.05.2023).
European Court of Auditors. (2022). Special Report 01/2022: EU support for the rule of law in the Western Balkans: despite efforts, fundamental problems persist. Available at: https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications?did=60343 (accessed on 15.05.2023).
EWB (2021): No consent in the EU on opening new chapters with Serbia in June. In European Western Balkans, June 14, 2021. Available at: https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2021/06/14/without-consent-within-eu-on-opening-new-chapters-with-serbia-in-june/ (accessed on 15.05.2023)
Grabbe, H. (2006). The EU’s Transformative Power. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230510302
Institut für Politikwissenschaft: Progress Report Monitor. In Universität Duisburg-Essen. Available at: https://www.uni-due.de/politik/progmonitor.php (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Jakab, A., and Kirchmair, L. (2021). How to Develop the EU Justice Scoreboard into a Rule of Law Index: Using an Existing Tool in the EU Rule of Law Crisis in a More Efficient Way. German Law Journal, 22(6), 936–955. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2021.46
Kacarska, S., and Abazi Imeri, A. (2019). Effective benchmarking for concrete rule of law reforms in the Western Balkans. Think for Europe Network.
Kmezic, M. (2018). EU Rule of Law Promotion. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315580722
Knežević Bojović, A., Matijević, M. V., and Glintić, M. (2022). International Standards on Judicial Ethics and the Pitfalls of Cursory Legal Transplantation. Balkan Yearbook of European and International Law 2021, 163–184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97431-2_8
Kochenov, D. (2004). Behind the Copenhagen Facade. The Meaning and Structure of the Copenhagen Political Criterion of Democracy and the Rule of Law. European Integration Online Papers, 8(10), 1–24.
Kochenov, D. (2008). EU Enlargement and the Failure of Conditionality: Pre-accession Conditionality in the Fields of Democracy and the Rule of Law. Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International.
Kochenov, D. (2017). Busting the myths nuclear: A commentary on Article 7 TEU. EUI Working Papers.
Kosař, D. (2018). Beyond Judicial Councils: Forms, Rationales and Impact of Judicial Self-Governance in Europe. German Law Journal, 19(7), 1567–1612. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200023178
Łacny, J. (2021). The Rule of Law Conditionality Under Regulation No 2092/2020—Is it all About the Money? Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 13(1), 79–105. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-021-00154-6
Leino, P. (2002). Rights, Rules and Democracy in the EU Enlargement Process: Between Universalism and Identity. Austrian Review of International and European Law, 7, 53–80.
Lenaerts, K. (2020). New Horizons for the Rule of Law Within the EU. German Law Journal, 21(1), 29–34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/glj.2019.91
Leonard, M. (2005, February 1). Europe’s transformative power. Centre for European Reform.
Magalhães, P. (1999). The Politics of Judicial Reform in Eastern Europe. Comparative Politics, 32(1), 43–62.
Mendelski, M. (2015). The EU’s Pathological Power: The Failure of External Rule of Law Promotion in South Eastern Europe. Southeastern Europe, 39(3), 318–346. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18763332-03903003
Mendelski, M. (2016). Europeanization and the Rule of Law: Towards a Pathological Turn. Southeastern Europe, 40(3), 346–384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/18763332-04003003
Merdzanovic, A., and Nicolaidis, K. (2021). A Citizen’s Guide to the Rule of Law. Why We Need to Fight for the Most Precious Human Invention of All Time. Stuttgart: ibidem Verlag.
Mohay, Á., and Lukonits, Á. (2017). Protecting the Rule of Law as a Fundamental Value of the EU – The Article 7 Procedure and Beyond. Osteuropa Recht, 63(4), 401–412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/0030-6444-2017-4-401
Møller, J., and Skaaning, S.-E. (2014). Systematizing Thin and Thick Rule of Law Definitions. In J. Møller and S.-E. Skaaning (Eds.), The Rule of Law (pp. 13–27). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137320612_2
Müller-Graff, P. C. (2021). European Integration: Historical Landmarks, Status and Future Options. In A. Kellerhals and T. Baumgartner (Eds.), Current Challenges of European Integration - 12th Network Europe Conference, 9 – 10 November 2020 (pp. 1–13). Zurich: EIZ Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36862/eiz-406
Mungiu-Pippidi, A. (2007). Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? EU Accession Is No ‘End of History’. Journal of Democracy, 18(4), 8–16.
Mungiu-Pippidi, A. (2014). The Transformative Power of Europe Revisited. Journal of Democracy, 25(1), 20–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2014.0003
Nicolaidis, K., and Kleinfeld, R. (2012). Rethinking Europe’s «Rule of Law» and Enlargement Agenda: The Fundamental Dilemma. SIGMA Paper No. 49.
Nozar, W. (2012). The 100% Union: The rise of Chapters 23 and 24. The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations.
Pech, L. (2016). The EU as a global rule of law promoter: the consistency and effectiveness challenges. Asia Europe Journal, 14(1), 7–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-015-0432-z
Pech, L. (2020). The Rule of Law in the EU: The Evolution of the Treaty Framework and Rule of Law Toolbox. Available at: https://reconnect-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/RECONNECT-WP7-2.pdf (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Pech, L., and Jaraczewski, J. (2023). Systemic Threat to the Rule of Law in Poland: Updated and New Article 7(1) TEU Recommendations. CEU DI Working Paper.
Pech, L., and Kochenov, D. (2021). Respect for the Rule of Law in the Case Law of the European Court of Justice: A Casebook Overview of Key Judgments since the Portuguese Judges Case. Stockholm: Swedish Institute for Euroepan Policy Studies.
Preshova, D., Damjanovski, I., and Nechev, Z. (2017). The Effectiveness of the ‘European Model’ of Judicial Independence in the Western Balkans: Judicial Councils as a Solution or a New Cause of Concern for Judicial Reforms. CLEER Papers 2017/1. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Instituut.
Pridham, G. (2005). Designing democracy : EU enlargement and regime change in post-communist Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Richter, S., and Wunsch, N. (2020). Money, power, glory: the linkages between EU conditionality and state capture in the Western Balkans. Journal of European Public Policy, 27(1), 41–62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2019.1578815
Rossi, L. S. (2020). Il valore giuridico dei valori. L’Articolo 2 TUE: relazioni con altre disposizioni del diritto primario dell’UE e rimedi giurisdizionali. Federalismi.It, 19, 4–26.
Schimmelfenig, F., Engert, S., and Knobel, H. (2006). International Socialization in Europe: European Organizations, Political Conditionality and Democratic Change. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schimmelfennig, F., and Sedelmeier, U. (2004). Governance by conditionality: EU rule transfer to the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of European Public Policy, 11(4), 661–679. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1350176042000248089
Schroeder, W. (2023). The Rule of Law as a Constitutional Mandate for the EU. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 15(1), 1–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40803-022-00185-7
Smilov, D. (2006). EU Enlargement and the Constitutional Principle of Judicial Independence. In W. Sadurski, A. Czarnota, and M. Krygier (Eds.), Spreading Democracy and the Rule of Law? The Impact of EU Enlargement on the Rule of Law, Democracy and Constitutionalism in Post-Communist Legal Orders. Dordrecht: Springer.
Spieker, L. D. (2021). Defending Union Values in Judicial Proceedings. On How to Turn Article 2 TEU into a Judicially Applicable Provision. In Defending Checks and Balances in EU Member States (pp. 237–268). Berlin: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-62317-6_10
Stratulat, C., Wunsch, N., Cvijić, S., Nechev, Z., Bonomi, M., Vurmo, G., and Kmezić, M. (2021). Escaping the Transactional Trap: The way forward for EU Enlargement. Available at: https://biepag.eu/publication/escaping-the-transactional-trap-the-way-forward-for-eu-enlargement/ (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Urbániková, M., and Šipulová, K. (2018). Failed Expectations: Does the Establishment of Judicial Councils Enhance Confidence in Courts? German Law Journal, 19(7), 2105–2136. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2071832200023348
Vachudova, M. A. (2005). Europe Undivided. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/0199241198.001.0001
Vlajković, M. (2020). Rule of Law – EU’s Common Constitutional “Denominator” and a Crucial Membership Condition on the Changed and Evolutionary Role of the Rule of Law Value in the EU Context. EU and Comparative Law Issues and Challenges Series, 4, 235–257. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25234/eclic/11903
Zhelyazkova, A., Damjanovski, I., Nechev, Z., and Schimmelfennig, F. (2019). European Union Conditionality in the Western Balkans: External Incentives and Europeanisation. In J. Dzankić, S. Keil, and M. Kmezić (Eds.), The Europeanisation of the Western Balkans (pp. 15–37). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91412-1_2
Zweers, W., Cretti, G., de Boon, M., Dafa, A., Subotić, S., Muk, M., … Kuhinja, E. (2022). The EU as a promoter of democracy or ‘stabilitocracy’ in the Western Balkans? The Hague: Clingendael Institute.
Accession criteria (Copenhagen criteria), available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/accession-criteria-copenhagen-criteria.html (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Council of the EU: General Affairs Council, 13 October 2020. Available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/gac/2020/10/13/ (accessed on 15.05.2023).
Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget
Guidelines on the application of the Regulation (EU, EURATOM) 2020/2092 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget, C(2022) 1382 final.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council the European Central Bank, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, The EU Justice Scoreboard A tool to promote effective justice and growth, COM/2013/0160 final, 27 March 2013
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, A new EU Framework to strengthen the Rule of Law, COM/2014/0158 final, 11 March 2014.
European Commission, Proposal for a Council Decision on the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach by the Republic of Poland of the rule of law, COM(2017) 835 final, 20 December 2017
Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic, and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions with a proposal for “Enhancing the accession process – A credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans”, COM(2020) 57 final, 5 February 2020
European Parliament resolution of 12 September 2018 on a proposal calling on the Council to determine, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the TEU, the existence of a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the Union is founded
East-Central and Southeast Europe. In BTI Transformation Index. Available at: https://bti-project.org/en/reports/east-central-and-southeast-europe (accessed on 15.05.2023).
CJEU, judgment of 6 November 2012, Commission v. Hungary, C‑286/12, ECLI:EU:C:2012:687.
CJEU judgment of 24 June 2019, Commission v. Poland, C‑619/18, ECLI:EU:C:2019:615.
CJEU, judgment of 5 November 2019, Commission v. Poland, C‑192/18, ECLI:EU:C:2019:924.
CJEU, judgment of 19 November 2019, A. K. and others, joined cases C‑585/18, C‑624/18 and C‑625/18, ECLI:EU:C:2019:982.
CJEU, judgment of 23 November 2021, IS, C‑564/19, ECLI:EU:C:2021:949.
CJEU, judgment of 16 February 2022, Hungary v. Parliament and Council, C‑156/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:97.
CJEU, judgment of 16 February 2022, Poland v. Parliament and Council, C‑157/21, ECLI:EU:C:2022:98.
ECtHR, Baka v. Hungary [GC], app. no. 20261/12, 23 June 2016.
ECtHR, Guðmundur Andri Ástráðsson v. Iceland, app. no. 26374/18, 1 December 2020.
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Bratislava Law Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Author(s) transfers copyright to the Article to the Publisher of the Journal by the Licence Agreement.
The Author(s) retains rights specified in the Licence Agreement.
The readers may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of all of the Article of the Journal and use them for any other lawful purpose under specified Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
How to Cite
