Busting the Myths Nuclear: A Commentary on Article 7 TEU

Abstract

Article 7 TEU is unique in that it established the procedures for stating the threat of a breach of EU values by a Member States, the existence of such breach, as well as a possible sanctioning mechanism to bring the recalcitrant Member States back to compliance, while not being confined by the general EU competence limitations. This commentary outlines all the sub-instruments and stages of deployment of the provision in question in order to demonstrate Article 7 TEU eminent usability in the face of the claims by the Institutions to the contrary which are as baseless as they are persistent. The goal of this contribution is to explain the richness and significance of Article 7 TEU, thereby busting the unhelpful ‘nuclear’ myth about it. Such myth proclaims Article 7 TEU to be ‘unusable’ and is deployed by those in search of a valid pretext – however feeble – to exclude EU law from solving the Rule of Law crisis of the European Union. Two Member States, Hungary and Poland, are working hard, day and night, to undermine democracy, the Rule of Law and the protection of fundamental rights, i.e. the foundational values of the Union. The claims that EU law should not intervene are irresponsible and, ultimately, illegal.

Keywords: Rule of Law, EU Law, EU Values, EU Principles, Enforcement, Hungary, Poland