Augmenting the Charter’s Role in the Fight for the Rule of Law in the European Union: The Cases of Judicial Independence and Party Financing

Abstract

This article focuses on the difficult relationship between the fight for the Rule of Law in the EU and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It outlines the connections between the two and then focuses on when and how the Charter could and should play a more significant role in upholding the Rule of Law in EU Member States and at the supranational level itself. Turning first to the Member State-level Rule of Law breakdowns, we demonstrate that the Charter has either been missing in the shadow of Article 19(1) TEU or threatening to undermine the fight for the Rule of Law in the instances when the principle of judicial independence was misrepresented as a right via Article 47 CFR standing alone. Turning then to the supranational level Rule of Law issues, we show that the Charter has so far been applied to a problematically limited extent. The Charter could and should play a much more significant role as there is no doubt about its applicability. This is particularly clear when turning to party-financing at EU-level, which offers a case in point to show how taking the Charter seriously could make a difference in protecting the Rule of Law in the EU.