L’utilizzo della condizionalità e la trasformazione dello spazio europeo

The use of conditionality and the transformation of the European space

Abstract

The use of conditionality has become a common feature of the exercise of power in the EU. Today, conditional schemes have entered the so-called “every-day politics” of the European Union, both with the implementation of the Next Generation EU program and other funding programs and with the introduction, in the context of the rule of law crisis, of the well-known Regulation 2020/2092. What is striking when observing the phenomenon of the use of conditionality is not only its growth in quantitative terms – which gives an idea of the importance of the phenomenon – but also its progressive transformation from an instrument used in the external projection of the Union, or in extraordinary cases, to an ordinary tool in the management of the multiple and articulated relations between the Union and the Member States. However, despite the very rich doctrinal reflection that the spread of conditionality, especially in its pervasive application in the context of the Next Generation EU, has prompted, a deep and systematic theoretical reflection on the nature of this instrument for the exercise of power and the impact it has on the relationship between the Union and the Member States is still to come. This paper aims to frame the phenomenon of conditionality (and its different forms) from a theoretical point, highlighting its constitutional implication on the nature of the EU.