Rule of Law Rules Future European Union Enlargement
The EU’s leverage on reforms fades rapidlyafter new states have joined asmembers. Sincethe 2004 enlargement, the EU has proved unable to respond effectively toattacks on judicial independence, media freedom and the checks and balancesbetween state institutions, by ruling parties in some of its members. Heather Grabbe notesin her article for
Bruegel that as these have failed to restore the rule of lawin the worst-performing members, an enlargement policyis now driving a substantive and more detailed set of rule-of-law requirementsthan was set out in the EU’s Treaties. This refinement of the accession processalso matters for the current members. Amid geopoliticsbased on rivalry between systems, the EU must make its governance system asresilient as possible, especially to external influences that aim to weaken it,and show that it delivers better for citizens than authoritarian systems can.
https://www.bruegel.org
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