Il Regolamento europeo sulla condizionalità legata al rispetto dello Stato di diritto. Impatto e criticità applicative sul processo di integrazione europea

The European Conditionality Regulation linked to the Rule of Law. Impact and critical issues over the European integration process

Abstract

The adoption of the EU Conditionality Regulation No. 2020/2092 and its consequences have been broadly debated by academic scholars, in light of the procedure of adoption and its application and specifically in tackling the Constitutional backsliding in Hungary and Poland. This essay aims to investigate the theoretical background of the “European” concept of the Rule of Law interlinked with the EU financial interests, as well as the contested application of conditionality. In this perspective the theoretical issues could be the basis to explore the dissensus witnessed during the adoption of the Regulation between the EU Institution and its contested application. This approach permits to connect theory and practice of the Rule of Law concept adopted by the European Union; what emerges from an in-context reading of the Regulation is that it should not be isolated, but paired with other tools that show the desire of the EU to speed up the integration process through secondary legislation. Among them, Regulation No. 2020/2092 remains relevant, since it has brought to life the principle of the Rule of Law with financial interests, which represents the main effort of the EU to strengthen the integration process.