Ochrona praworządności w Unii Europejskiej – węzłowe problemy

Abstract

Reforms of the judicial system implemented in Poland in recent years and the rule of law proceedings initiated in their aftermath by the European Commission in January 2016 have contributed to the discussion within the framework of the international scholarly conference “Protecting European Union Values: Breaches of Article 2 TEU and its Consequences” organised by the Chair of European Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg. Basing on the speeches presented during the conference, in this article authors define the concept of the rule of law as one of the fundamental EU values, as well as analyse the existing violations of the rule of law in other Member States. An attempt was also made to assess the mechanisms protecting the rule of law, which result from the treaties (including Article 7 TEU and Article 258 TFEU), and propose supplementing them with a decentralised rule of law protection mechanism. Such mechanism should engage the whole EU legal system, including national courts, in protecting EU values, as assumed by the concept of “Rule of Law Argument” and the horizontal Solange test.