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War as a pretext to wave the rule of law goodbye? The case for an EU constitutional awakening
Author(s) -
Bárd Petra,
Kochenov Dimitry V.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european law journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1468-0386
pISSN - 1351-5993
DOI - 10.1111/eulj.12435
Subject(s) - pretext , sanctions , european union , rule of law , political science , democracy , context (archaeology) , law , politics , state (computer science) , law and economics , sociology , economics , international trade , history , archaeology , algorithm , computer science
The war in Ukraine triggered significant changes at the European Union level. The speed at which the EU has achieved progress on sanctions, migration and defense is particularly impressive. But the Russian aggression against Ukraine has also served as a pretext for putting aside internal discussions about the rule of law, and provided additional political rationales for inaction against Member State governments responsible for the violation of European values, as well as triggered the deepening of double standards in several fields. Against this background, the paper argues that using this crisis as a justification for further inaction in the context of EU values is not a sustainable course of action. The Union must not delay further the need to act to halt the insidious erosion of democracy and the rule of law within its own borders both at the national and supranational level.