Thread by @RobertCPalmer13

The Art 7 TEU procedure was designed to deter member states from advancing policies that threaten democratic institutions.

As we are witnessing a 'rule of law rot' spreading across the EU, it's time the EC Legal Service stopped this inherent threat among MS's govts.

1/14

https://twitter.com/thehydrogenans/status/1159420464856469505

The EP decided to trigger art 7 TEU procedures against Poland (Dec 17) & Hungary (Sept 18) for persistent breaches of the EU’s founding values; in particular, in relation to the rule-of-law situation in those countries. We have the same concerns being raised in the UK.

2/14

The Art 7 procedure ('the nuclear option') hasn't come to much, so far, but the EU can impose 'the most serious political sanction [it can] on a member state: the suspension of the right to vote on EU decisions'

This article explains the procedure:

politico.eu/article/graphi…

3/14

The Polish & Hungarian govts have taken advantage of the slow pace of the EU decision-making process. The EU seem complacent about what is now happening in the UK, as the rule of law rot aggressively takes hold here.

4/14

We all need to learn a lesson from Poland & Hungary (as Brexiters are clearly doing it) where illiberal leaders have managed to dismantle their judiciaries to an extent that not even their parliaments can reverse the attack on democracy w/o a change in their constitutions.

5/14

Brexit means significant changes to our constitution, legal order & the mass removal of civil & political rights (inc. the right to healthcare & education). This is a serious problem as reversing those changes may take decades & no document will exist to confirm our rights.

6/14

Brexit is really a vehicle to bring illiberal, rightless democracy to UK shores & merely a symptom of a much bigger story being played out across the EU. That's uncomfortable to say but all the clues from history are there alongside the language that follows the hard right

7/14

Many of us have tried (for years) to explain the benefits of EU membership, but the reality is that BOTH the UK parliament AND the EU have failed to protect its nationals & citizens from the rise of a NEW right. Their complacency now threatens liberal democracy & the EU.

8/14

Be under no illusion, although I oppose Brexit, I'm aware of the flaws of the EU. It has many & needs reform not destruction. The weakness of the EP, lag in the decison-making process & gap between EU institutions & its citizens have all aided a return of the right & Brexit

9/14

We're not going to end Brexit arguing incessively with Brexiters. We may sway many leave voters to see the benefits of membership far outweigh being a 3rd party but Brexiters aren't for turning - it's an ideology not a policy. We need to expose & attack the ideology now.

10/14

Art 7 is about defending the common values of its Member States: 'respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law'. Leaving the EU means we lose those shared values - only idealists & the financial elites would want us to lose them.

11/14

In a recent article on @brexit_sham, I tried (& failed) to bring the rise of the right (& how it drove Brexit) to the public; I struggled putting complex issues, in another field, into lay terms. I'm hoping there's someone out there who can succeed in doing that.

12/14

Although the loss of my civil & political rights & my identity will devastate me, there's a bigger picture that's even more worrying: it threatens the foundations for rights based democracy, protected by the rule of law, completely. Illiberal politicians now form our govt.

13/14

Illiberal thought & racism are the breeding ground for facism, we need a vocabulary to shock people out of complacency. There's much in the language of the past that we can draw upon

The EU was created drawing on that language, based on common values & liberal democracy

14/14