The EU is a community of law and values among which the rule of law takes a prominent place. In recent years, though, some Member States systemically breach the rule of law and it is commonly diagnosis that the EU lacks effective legal instruments to stop these violations. Many believe that this may change by imposing EU budgetary sanctions on these Member States, e.g. by suspend EU funds earmarked to them. In response the Commission presented the draft regulation which intends to make conditional transfers of EU funds to Member States upon their respect of the rule of law (known as: the rule of law conditionality). This paper will comment on this draft and focuses on these elements which legality raises most concerns.
We look forward to welcoming you on July 3-5, 2023 for our Annual Conference entitled "Islands and Ocean: Public Law in a Plural World." The conference will take place at the Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. We will be announcing more details about the conference soon, including financial support to early career and global south scholars!