en
Przegląd Europejski – European Studies Quarterly

The changing role of European Union institutions in upholding the rule of law

2026, 2026, No. 1

Danuta Kabat-Rudnicka

0000-0003-4776-4481

Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie (Kraków, Polska)

DOI

10.31338/1641-2478pe.1.26.6

Publication date

28.04.2026

Submission date

14.07.2025

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Social sciences

Discipline

international relations, economics and finance, communication and media studies, political science and public administration, management and quality studies, law, sociology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 259 KB

Article

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Number of downloads:21

Crossref citations:0

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Abstract

As an international organisation founded upon its Member States, the European Union (EU) relies on a commitment to common values and principles, including the rule of law, any breach of which threatens its very foundations. To address this challenge, the EU has developed political instruments for areas beyond substantive EU law, judicial instruments where competence is conferred by the Treaties or secondary legislation, and financial instruments, when rule of law breaches endanger the effective management of EU finances. The article’s aim is to examine the involvement of EU institutions across these procedural frameworks, with the research problem centred on the extent of institutional engagement. The author analyses the concept of the rule of law and the procedures under Article 7 TEU, the Conditionality Regulation, and proceedings before the CJEU. The research results demonstrate that the European Commission takes on the central role in safeguarding the rule of law, transcending its technocratic mandate to assume a political role. The study adopts an analytical, explanatory, and comparative approach.

Keywords:

rule of law,Court of Justice,European Commission,Council of the European Union

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