New article by Thomas Conzelmann on EU rule of law peer review

As PROM moves on to new ventures, Thomas has started to look at another peer review not covered in the original project design. This is the EU’s recently installed rule of law peer review. It reviews the compliance of all EU member states with rule of law standards and this adds to the EU’s toolbox in the field.

Publication details:

Conzelmann, T. (2022). Peer reviewing the rule of law? A new mechanism to safeguard EU values. European Papers. A Journal on Law and Integration, 7(2), 671–695. https://doi.org/10.15166/2499-8249/593

Abstract: The possible remedies that the EU can use against backsliding on the rule of law are limited: While art. 7 TEU has been widely conceived as ineffective, the recently introduced budget conditionality may become bogged down in court cases. Softer instruments like the Commission Rule of Law Report provide observations on rule of law developments, but are in themselves unable to address transgressions. Against this background, the Council has recently introduced a peer review mechanism that may exert peer and public pressure on transgressors. However, the agreed procedures show important deficits such as lacking transparency to the outside world, limited time devoted to the review, and the absence of clear country-specific recommendations that could become the focus of peer and public pressure. The new procedure thus needs reform to achieve results. A comparison with peer reviews among states in other international organizations show the potential that peer reviewing holds.