The construction of the system of European Union law is based on the premise that Member States shall respect all values expressed in Art. 2 TEU, including the values of the rule of law .2 This is a key condition for the autonomy of the Union law towards the Member States. The autonomy so construed refers to the specific supranational constitutional structure of the EU. It follows from the well-established case law of the Court of Justice that the founding treaties, unlike ordinary international agreements, establish a new legal order with its own institutions, to which states increasingly restrict their sovereign rights and whose subjects are not only member states, but also the individuals who come from them.
The monograph is the first publication in which precedent legal issues surrounding the protection of the rule of law of the Member States in European Union law are discussed in an accessible and comprehensive manner. The author explains the concept of the rule of law (Article 2 TEU) and examines its significance in the EU legal order. He also presents the characteristics of the existing mechanisms for protecting the rule of law: political (procedure under Article 7 TEU, Commission proceedings under the Communication ‘A new framework for strengthening the rule of law’) and judicial (infringement procedure under Articles 258–260 TFEU, protection of the rule of law in proceedings before national courts and the preliminary ruling procedure under Article 267 TFEU).
The monograph contains a critical analysis of recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU on the discussed issue and the legal problems related to proceedings conducted at the national and EU levels in connection with the independence of the Polish judiciary. Based on this, the author was able to verify the hypotheses on the elements, nature and functions of the value of the rule of law in the EU legal order and their relation to the available mechanisms for the protection of the rule of law, as well as the way these mechanisms are used in the event of a threat to the rule of law created by a Member State.
From the Foreword by the Ombudsman Adam Bodnar
‘Maciej Taborowski’s book provides an in-depth analysis of this process of the “awakening” of the European Union. After all, the EU had legal instruments to counteract threats to the rule of law, only it did not use them. It was precisely the case of Poland that necessitated the use of the rule of law procedures under Article 7 TEU and the anti-violation procedure under Article 258 TFEU, as well as for national courts to ask preliminary questions about the independence of the judiciary in Poland. Maciej Taborowski’s book is not simply an analysis of the events and methods applied. The author wonders why the system is still imperfect, how it should be made more effective through further actions and what great potential there is in the instruments of European law that have not been used so far. Thus, it is a consideration for the future, when European Union bodies will have to face threats to the rule of law occurring in other member states.’
Wydanie: Warszawa 2019
Stan prawny: 12.03.2019 r.
Wydawca: Wolters Kluwer
Seria: Monografie
ISBN: 978-83-8160-687-5
Ilość stron: 484
Publikacja dostępna w Bibliotece INP PAN sygn. 54608