Tomorrow’s ECJ ruling on #ruleoflaw feels a bit like the Super Bowl for those like me who have followed the issue for years. More judge's robe & less music though. The ruling will even be live-streamed: c.connectedviews.com/05/cdj So how did we get here? 🧵 euobserver.com/democracy/1543…
The EU has struggled for almost a decade to effectively tackle the #ruleoflaw challenge posed by Hungary and then more and more of its members. The EU (commission, council) seemed puzzled, confused, and frustrated at first. Sometimes still does. euobserver.com/political/1317…
Launching the sanctions probe, #Article7, did not manage to roll back or stop the backsliding on rules and values. Article 7 has been called the “nuclear option”, but it merely proved to be a nuisance for Hungary and Poland. euobserver.com/political/1433…
The idea of linking EU values and €€€ has been floating around in capitals and Brussels for years. Hungary has been labeling it as “political blackmail” from the beginning. euobserver.com/political/1396…
After the EC’s proposal, in long & tedious negotiations MEPs & council led by the German presidency, came up with a compromise in Dec 2020 that included a close link to the management of EU funds, so the new rules do not cover all and every values issue euobserver.com/political/1499…
Under the threat of veto by Hungary & Poland on the budget & Covid-19 fund, EU leaders agreed that the commission should wait until ECJ ruling before activating the new tool (legal overreach by EUCO) & have the EC come up with guidelines on implementation euobserver.com/political/1503…
Poland and Hungary then challenged the new regulation at the ECJ, which kicked off an almost year-long process, even though the ECJ dealt with it in a fast-track way. euobserver.com/democracy/1532…
The EP has pushed the commission to trigger the regulation and has voted to take the executive to court for failing to act. Meanwhile, the commission pledged that there will be no cases lost euobserver.com/democracy/1521…
Wednesday’s judgment is likely to give green light to trigger the procedure that has been in force since Jan 2021. The EC sent letters to Poland & Hungary as preliminary steps but it is unlikely it will move very fast, as it needs to analyse the ruling euobserver.com/democracy/1535…
While @EUCourtPress is increasingly pushed into the #ruleoflaw battleground, its ruling will put political pressure once again on the commission & council to decide if they allow further backsliding for the sake of compromise decision-making & perceived EU unity, or take action
In any case, Hungary and Poland are expected to challenge the commission’s decision to launch the mechanism, once it comes. So this #ruleoflaw series will continue, in case you were worried that was it. ENDS.
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