More than a Problem of Unanimity? The Chairmanship Dilemma and the Rule of Law Enforcement in the Council of the EU

Autor principal:
Gisela Hernández González (IPP-CSIC)
Programa:
Sesión 6, Sesión 6
Día: jueves, 8 de julio de 2021
Hora: 16:00 a 17:45
Lugar: Online

Research on compliance with EU’s rule of law value has concentrated on either the breaches committed by the governments of some member states, the “toolbox” of the Union, or the roles of the European Commission and the European Parliament. But so far research has neglected analysing the role of Council of the EU, which is in fact the only institution enabled to apply strong means of enforcement against the rule of law offenders. While the difficulties of activating Art.7 of the Treaty against Hungary and Poland are normally attributed to the unanimity requirement, the institutional design of the Council also imposes important obstacles to the success of the rule of law enforcement that are often overlooked. Particularly influential seems to be the Presidency. The use of the rotating presidential mandate as a tool for the member state in charge to pursue its own interests has led to a lack of coherence and continuity in the Council’s approach to this matter: some presidencies have pushed forward the procedure, but others have been reluctant or even completely passive towards it.

This project conducts a comparative case study of the performance of various national governments regarding the rule of law issue, and concretely the Art.7, during their term in the rotating presidency of the Council (2018-2021). The aim is to analyse which strategies do the different member states use to influence the Council’s work on this matter while in the Chairmanship (agenda-setting, agenda-structuring and agenda-exclusion), and whether (and how) they have prioritised a favourable distribution of gains for themselves over the neutrality and efficiency that is not only presupposed of the Presidency, but fundamental to solve the Union’s rule of law crisis.

Palabras clave: Rule of law, Council of the EU, enforcement, rotating presidency, agenda