Reinforcing Rule of Law Oversight in the European Union

This book provides the definitive reference point on all the issues pertaining to dealing with the 'crisis of the rule of law' in the European Union. Both Member State and EU levels are considered. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the concrete legal bases and instruments that the EU may avail itself of for enforcing rule of law, and the volume clearly demonstrates that a number of legally sound ways of rule of law oversight are available. Contributors are leading scholars who assess the potential role to be played by the various bodies in the context of dealing with the EU's rule of law imperfections.

Part I. Establishing Normative Foundations: 1. Reinforcing EU monitoring of the rule of law: normative arguments, institutional proposals and the procedural limitations Carlos Closa; 2. Beyond legality - before democracy: rule of law caveats in the EU two-level system Gianluigi Palombella; 3. Overseeing the rule of law in the EU: legal mandate and means Christophe Hillion; 4. Protecting democracy inside the EU: on article 7 TEU and the Hungarian turn to authoritarianism Bojan Bugaric; Part II. Proposing New Approaches: 5. Enforcing the basic principles of EU law through systemic infringement actions Kim Lane Scheppele; 6. Mutual trust: the virtue of reciprocity – strengthening the acceptance of the rule of law through peer review Ernst Hirsch Ballin; 7. The rule of law and the role of fundamental rights: seven practical pointers Gabriel N. Toggenburg and Jonas Grimheden; 8. The potential of the EU charter of fundamental rights for the development of the rule of law indicators Martin Scheinin; 9. The EU charter of fundamental rights as the most promising way of enforcing the rule of law against EU member states András Jakab; 10. Protecting the rule of law (and democracy!) in the European Union: the idea of a Copenhagen Commission Jan-Werner Müller; 11. From Copenhagen to Venice Kaarlo Tuori; Part III. Identifying Deeper Problems: 12. EU democratic oversight and domestic deviation from the rule of law: sociological reflections Paul Blokker; 13. Why improve EU oversight of rule of law? The two-headed problem of defending liberal democracy and fighting corruption Milada Anna Vachudova; 14. The missing EU rule of law Dimitry Kochenov; Epilogue: living in a glass house: Europe, demoracy and the rule of law J. H. H. Weiler.

Carlos Closa is Professor of Political Science at the Institute for Public Goods and Policies (IPP) at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Madrid. He has been a member of the Venice Commission for democracy through law and a consultant for the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the European Parliament. He has researched and published widely, focusing on the areas of EU citizenship, the EU's constitutional structure, and relations between the EU and its Member States.
Dimitry Kochenov is Martin and Kathleen Crane Fellow in Law and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, New Jersey, Professor of EU Constitutional Law, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands, and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Natolin. He advised international institutions and governments, including Dutch and Maltese. He has also researched and published widely focusing on EU constitutional law, EU citizenship and EU overseas territories law.