Rule of law in Europe – Rethinking the Concept in the Context of Enlargement

Ćeranić, Jelena (2016) Rule of law in Europe – Rethinking the Concept in the Context of Enlargement. In: Rule of law in Europe – Current Challenges. Europa Institute at the University of Zurich, Zurich, pp. 35-52. ISBN 978-3-7255-7719-4

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Abstract

On one hand, the idea is that in the long run sustainable entrenchment of the rule of law is fundamentally about the relationship between the State and society and therefore cannot be about traditional justice institutions alone; an idea that is very ambitious. It calls for an ends-based approach to assessing the rule of law and therefore a more intrusive assessment on the part of actors like the EU (Part II.). On the other hand, the recognition that this move also calls for humility and that if an ends-based approach is to be sustained over time and beyond enlargement it needs to be consistent with whatever such “ends” may be in the EU context, an assessment that is internally contested and in constant flux. It would be unfair within this context, to use a more ambitious approach to rule of law assessment in order to stall enlargement. This calls for greater restraint and tentative on the part of the EU (Part III.).

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