From Rule of Law to Rule of Lawlessness in the EU?

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) was forced to recently stress that the rule of law 'forms part of the very foundations of the European Union and its legal order' and is 'given concrete expression in principles containing legally binding obligations for the Member States'. The Court’s renewed emphasis on the importance of the rule of law might surprise considering that access to and continuing membership of the EU formally require, inter alia, compliance with the rule of law. The explanation lies in the unprecedented and repeated violations of EU rule of law requirements originating from some national actors at Member State level in the past decade. In the absence of prompt and forceful reactions by EU political institutions, the CJEU President was forced to warn in 2023 against 'authoritarian drifts' which could lead to the rule of law being replaced with 'rule of lawlessness'. In his address to the IIEA, Professor Pech outlines the reality of the authoritarian drifts mentioned by the CJEU President before focusing on the EU’s (in)action to date in the face of emerging legal black holes within the EU itself. About the Speaker: Laurent Pech is Full Professor of Law, Dean of Law and Head of the Sutherland School of Law. He is also a Visiting Professor of Law at Bordeaux University, a Senior Research Fellow at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest, and the co-director of The Good Lobby Profs which he co-founded in 2021.