scholarly journals The “Thick” Rule of Law and Mutual Trust in the European Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Juha Raitio
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Material Concept ◽  
The Eu

The concept of the rule of law has lately become a topical and controversial issue. For example, the existence of effective judicial review is an inseparable part of the rule of law and some problems in this respect have been analysed. This article advocates for a thick concept of the rule of law. This refers to the idea that the rule of law has both material and formal content. The controversial part seems to be the question of material content and whether it obscures the essential meaning of the rule of law as a requirement of legality. However, the material aspect of the rule of law can be linked to the value-base of the European Union. For example, during its EU Presidency, Finland strongly emphasized the significance of the value base and the rule of law in Article 2 teu for the development of the EU. Democracy, the rule of law, and the actualisation of fundamental and human rights in particular are connected together, combined in a trinity where all the components form preconditions for the others. This stance is not a novelty in Finland, since Jyränki, for one, two decades ago already maintained that human rights protect the individual’s position and thus belong to the sphere of the material concept of the rule of law. I have employed the metaphor of a musical triangle. A triangle can only make a sound if all three of its corners are connected to each other, thereby connecting the sides of the triangle. Observance of the core values of the EU is a precondition for mutual trust between Member States, which in turn is necessary for a well-functioning European Union and good governance.

scholarly journals The Rule of Law Framework in the European Union: Its Rationale, Origins, Role and International Ramifications

2021 ◽  
pp. 305-331
Author(s):  
Artur Nowak-Far
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Eu

AbstractAt present, the European rule of law enforcement framework under Article 7 TEU (RLF) is vulnerable to unguaranteed, discretionary influences of the Member States. This vulnerability arises from its procedural format which requires high thresholds in decision-making with the effect that this procedure is prone to be terminated by the EU Member States likely to be scrutinized under it, if only they collude. Yet, the Framework may prove effective to correct serious breaches against human rights (in the context of ineffective rule of law standards). The European Commission is bound to pursue the RLF effectiveness for the sake of achieving relative uniformity of application of EU law (at large), and making the European Union a credible actor and co-creator of international legal order. The RLF is an important tool for the maintenance of relative stability of human rights and the rule of law in the EU despite natural divergence propensity resulting from the procedural autonomy of the EU Member States. By achieving this stability, the EU achieves significant political weight in international dialogue concerning human rights and the rule of law and preserves a high level of its global credibility in this context. Thus, RLF increases the EU’s effectiveness in promoting the European model of their identification and enforcement.

Generating Trust Through Law? Judicial Cooperation in the European Union and the “Principle of Mutual Trust”

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wischmeyer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Judicial Cooperation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu

For a long time, EU institutions have emphasized the connection between one of the most important concepts of the integration method, mutual recognition, and the presence of mutual trust between EU Member States. Only recently, the ECJ reaffirmed in its Opinion 2/13 that mutual trust is at the heart of the EU and a “fundamental premiss” of the European legal structure. But can law really restore, advance or even govern by trust? This question is crucial for the EU of today, which finds itself in the midst of a severe crisis of trust. For the EU as a community “based on the rule of law” generating trust through law might seem the natural, maybe the only politically viable response to a crisis of trust. Nevertheless, even if one agrees that the rule of law requires people to place trust in legal rules, and that courts and administrative agencies need to trust each other in order to work efficiently and consistently, how would legal rules be able to generate or promote trust? Moreover, isn't it deeply rooted in our ideas about constitutional government that democratic law must institutionalize mutual distrust rather than govern by trust? These conceptual and normative objections did not stop the European Union from pursuing the project of trust-building through law in one of the most sensitive areas of EU law, judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters. This Article will ask whether the project to promote trust through law is a promising one, and, eventually, how to reinterpret statutory provisions and legal principles that purport to generate trust amongst their addressees.

The Non-Execution Clause in the Relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African, Carribean and Pacific States (ACP)

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moussounga Itsouhou Mbadinga
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Article 5 ◽  
The Eu

It has became common for some States, international or regional organizations to establish a link between good governance, respect of human rights and the democratization of States. This idea is now a condition for development aid. Paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the Lomé Convention between the European Community (EC) and African, Carribean and Pacific States (ACP) of 15 December 1989, revised at Maurice 4 November 1995, provides that the politics of development and cooperation are closely linked to the respect and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, to the strengthening of the rule of law and good governance. In Paragraph 2, cooperation is established as an instrument for promoting the enjoyment of economic, social, politic and cultural rights. The democratic clause contained in Article 5 of the Lomé Convention, and for which the respect of human rights, democratic principles and rule of law are essential elements of this Convention, firstly favours the achievement of positive actions in this framework and dedicates these elements as topics of common interests and a matter of dialogue. The European Union has stressed its willingness to develop a positive approach to these essential elements, which are the bedrock of the EU-ACP relationship besides being fields of cooperation and Community support. For that purpose, the Cotonou Agreement signed on 23 June 2000 strengthens this approach in Paragraph 2 of Article 9. The EU clearly places these essential elements at the heart of its partnership and defines the shared values that underpin this kind of relationship. It is in the spirit of common commitment to the respect and promotion of universal values that this approach has been taken.

Introduction

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-378
Author(s):  
ERIK-JAN ZÜRCHER
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Market Economy ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Eu

Turkey is about to start accession negotiations with the European Union. The question of whether Turkey qualified as a European country in terms of history and culture, was put on the European agenda by conservative European politicians in the mid-1990s and seemed to have been solved in Turkey's favour at the Helsinki summit of 1999, but it was hotly debated again throughout 2004. At the same time, a parallel debate developed among those who accepted Turkey's European credentials in principle (or felt they had to accept them). This was the debate about Turkey's state of preparedness and the degree to which the country fulfilled the so-called ‘Copenhagen Criteria’, which stipulated that candidates for membership of the EU should have a stable democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and a functioning market economy. In the end, as we know, the attempts of the ‘fundamentalist’ opposition to Turkey's candidature on the part of people like former Eurocommissioner Bolkestein, German CDU/CSU leaders Merkel and Stoiber or ex-president Giscard d'Estaing failed. Turkey's progress towards fulfilment of the Copenhagen Criteria was deemed sufficient by the European Commission, and on 17 December 2004 the momentous decision to start the accession process was taken unanimously at the summit in The Hague.Interest in the question of Turkey's candidature has meant that an extraordinary number of studies, reports, papers have appeared, analysing the current situation and drawing scenarios for the future. The authors of this Focus have not intended to add to this, or to investigate the chequered history of Turkish-European relations since the signing of the accession treaty in 1963.

scholarly journals The Values of the European Union and their Protection under European Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Stanislav Kuvaldin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
European Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The Eu

Article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union provides for a mechanism for responding to violations by member states of the values of democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights proclaimed by the Union, as well as the introduction of sanctions against the violating state. Nevertheless, the EU structures are extremely cautious about this mechanism, despite the reasons for its use. The article analyzes the history of the appearance of Article 7 in European legislation and the first attempts of a pan-European influence on dubious decisions of the member states. Based on the example of Poland and Hungary in respect of which the possibility of applying sanctions under the Article 7 procedure is now being discussed, it is concluded that such an outcome is unlikely. It is shown that Article 7 was deliberately created in such a way as to limit the actions of pan-European structures, to leave decisions in the hands of national governments and to provide an opportunity to solve the problem through negotiations. It also shows the process of searching for alternative ways of influencing the violating states.

scholarly journals Torpedoing v. Carpet Bombing: Mutual Trust and the Rule of Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 9-22
Author(s):  
Adam Máčaj
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Future Application ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Judicial Cooperation ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Fundamental Value ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The aim of this paper is to assess the most recent developments in the arising threats to the rule of law, in particular from the viewpoint of their impact on the judicial cooperation in light of the principle of mutual trust in the European Union. The paper analyses the development of this principle, the position of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the issue, and its views on recent challenges to the rule of law as a fundamental value of the EU, along with positions of other judicial bodies. The assessment then seeks to establish the impact the arising threats to rule of law in the EU, including judicial independence, may exert on the future application of the principle of mutual trust amongst judicial authorities of the Member States, and outline the implications arising therefrom.

scholarly journals EU peacebuilding’s new khaki: Exceptionalist militarism in the trading of good governed for military-capable states

Politics ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 026339572094734
Author(s):  
Marta Iñiguez de Heredia
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
International Order ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Liberal Peacebuilding ◽  
The Eu

This article explores how European Union (EU) peacebuilding is being reconfigured. Whereas the EU was once a bulwark of liberal peacebuilding, promoting a rule of law–based international order, it is now downplaying the goal of good governance and placing military capacity as central for international peace and security. Several works have analysed these changes but have not theorised militarism, despite war-waging and war-preparation have marked EU peacebuilding’s direction. The article argues that EU peacebuilding continues to expose elements of liberal militarism since its origins but is now changing from what Mabee and Vucetic call a nation-statist to an exceptionalist militarism. This shift implies that peace has ceased to be served by the intervention of sovereignty with a discourse based on the link between order, good governance, and human rights and is now premised on the upholding of sovereignty, even if that means the suspension of rights. The research draws on thematic analysis of EU documents and interviews undertaken with EU and G5 Sahel officials and managers of EU-funded peacebuilding programmes. It also briefly analyses the case of the Sahel as an example of how the build-up of states’ military capacity is strengthening states’ capacity to override human rights and repressing dissent.

scholarly journals Hungary and the Indirect Protection of EU Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1959-1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Dawson ◽  
Elise Muir
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Fundamental Values ◽  
Eu Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Eu

According to Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, the European Union is a political and economic union founded on a respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law, referred to hereafter as EU fundamental values. The central place of this commitment in the EU Treaties suggests a founding assumption: That the EU is a Union of states who themselves see human rights and the rule of law as irrevocable parts of their political and legal order. Reminiscent of the entry of Jorg Haider's far-right Freedom Party into the Austrian government in 2000, the events of 2012 have done much to shake that assumption; questioning both how interwoven the rule of law tradition is across the present-day EU, and the role the EU ought to play in policing potential violations of fundamental rights carried out via the constitutional frameworks of its Member States. Much attention in this field, much like the focus of this paper, has been placed on events in one state in particular: Hungary.

Conclusions on Good Governance

2019 ◽  
pp. 270-280
Author(s):  
Henk Addink
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Concept ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Right

Good governance is a legal concept and a cornerstone of the modern state and presented in the book as the third cornerstone of a modern stone (alongside the rule of law and democracy). We concluded in relation to the development of the concept of good governance in part I that principles of good governance can only be legal principles when they have been somehow codified legal effect. The good governance principles became more concrete by enumerating six groups of principles (properness, transparency, participation, effectiveness, accountability, and human rights) which are found in many documents of national, regional, and international context. From the legal theory approach on good governance we discussed the character of these principles. In part II we specified the principles of good governance and starting with the principle of properness, which has also been developed under the name of the principle of natural justice. The second, the principle of transparency, is connected to the principle of participation which both have roots in the concept of democracy. The principles of effectiveness and accountability both have a relationship to the institutional structure and functioning. The last principle is the human rights principle which is linked to the rule of law but also to democracy. Several principles of good governance were already developed in regulations and in codes which are the building blocks for the development of the right to good governance. The implementation of good governance and the comparison between countries were explained in Part III. After that, the regional level was discussed—the European Union and the Council of Europe were chosen as models as far as it was comparable. The last chapter was about the implementation on the international level.

THE EUROPEAN UNION DISTINCTIVENESS: A CONCEPT OF THE RULE OF LAW

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-171
Author(s):  
Adnan Mahmutovic ◽  
Helza Nova Lita
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Legal Principle ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Eu

This paper discusses the distinctiveness of the European Union with focus on the Rule of Law and its importance for the EU integration process. Rule of Law is a notion that is very frequently used, but at the same time quite controversial as it is not so easy always to reach generally accepted meaning. Therefore, this paper provides a analysis of the EU Rule of Law  as multidimensional legal principle gravitating between values and principles. The paper acknowledges that a concept of the EU rule of law can be the subject of diverse interpretations and implementation. High-ranking government officials of a two EU member states, Poland and Hungary, have argued recently that a concept of the EU rule of law lacks well-defined rules and remains the subject of much debate. Therefore, the paper provides for better understanding of the concept itself within the specific supranational legal environment. Also, the paper argues that the future of the EU and its integrations depends largely on the respect of the rule of law that remains to be a core and the element of unity within Europe’s legal space. The relationship between the principles and values upon which the EU is founded remain close and interrelated. The EU Rule of law with all its distinctiveness can be concluded with certainty that it reflects a specific character and nature of the EU legal system.

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