Christian Calliess reminds us in ‘Restoring credibility and trust by enforcing the rule of law’ that too often, European policies have failed to defend the rule of law in the member states. Some national governments have been successful in putting political pressure on institutions, others have been incapable, or indeed unwilling, to implement agreed rules defining European goods and interests. Consequently, the EU has lost credibility among its citizens and the trust of its member states. Therefore, he argues, in the next politico-institutional cycle, the EU has to find a convincing and efficient answer to the ongoing pressure on the rule of law in individual member states. To that end, the Union should prevent rule of law backsliding in individual EU countries by making full use of its available legal instruments and by enhancing the implementation of European law through the introduction of a new concept of cooperative enforcement. The new EU leadership should push in this direction if it wants to regain trust and credibility with regard to the defence of European values in the eyes of its citizens.
Read the paper here