Enforcing the rule of law: What can the European Union do to prevent rule of law deterioration from within? (ENROL)

About the project

Respect for the rule of law and democratic standards have significantly deteriorated in several EU member states, especially in Poland and Hungary. Such a regression damages the functioning of the European Union as a legal system, its legitimacy and stability as a political order, and its trustworthiness as an international partner. EU institutions have been struggling to address this unprecedented predicament in a decisive fashion, while EU partners have signaled concerns. ENROL will engage in an interdisciplinary assessment of the conditions for effective and legitimate EU actions in response to rule of law backsliding and propose solutions to the existing bottlenecks. 

Objectives

ENROL will map out the ongoing development of the EU's rule of law enforcement toolkit and chart how EU institutions have used it so far. The project will investigate why EU institutions have chosen to employ some tools, refrained from engaging in others, while continuing to develop new ones. ENROL will identify existing bottlenecks which stand in the way of more forceful EU action, in the form of political incentives, institutional mechanisms as well as legal and normative concerns about the legitimacy and effectiveness of different available tools.

ENROL will also study the implications of EU action—and inaction—for domestic political resistance against backsliding, with a particular focus on Poland, one of the EU's largest member states where the political struggle over rule of law is ongoing.

Based on its findings, ENROL will set out the legal and normative conditions for an effective and legitimate EU response to rule of law and democratic backsliding.

For more information, please consult ENROL’s project plan.