Enforcement of EU Values as a Political Endeavour: Constitutional Pluralism and Value Homogeneity in Times of Persistent Challenges to the Rule of Law

Abstract

The EU’s foundational values democracy, human rights and rule of law are shared by the Member States and rooted in their constitutional traditions. Constitutional pluralism recognises the legitimacy of parallel legal systems. Pluralism however cannot provide answers when it comes to the design and enforcement of foundational values, which require homogeneous acceptance throughout the Union. Deficiencies affect the entire Union legal order. The argument of national identity in Art. 4(2) TEU must not be construed as a means to undermine the application of the law, but is an EU-law internal counterbalancing instrument. This is of relevance because, when addressing systemic deficiencies, the enforcement under Art. 7 TEU may interfere with effectively internal matters of Member States. In order to protect common values the EU has to avail itself of safeguarding competences under Union law, even in areas outside of application of EU law stricto sensu (the acquis). Using the example of the rule of law, it can be demonstrated that value protection is a predominantly political task that calls for political solutions together with effective rule of law dialogues, and needs EU institutions to act as facilitators and guardians of the treaties by making use of the enforcement instruments under Art. 7 TEU and Art. 258 TFEU. In parallel, a culture of values could be fostered by an evidence-based monitoring within a new instrument of “CVM for all” (Cooperation and Verification Mechanism).