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15 Hague J. on Rule L. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/hagjuote15 and id is 1 raw text is: Hague Journal on the Rule of Law (2023) 15:1-17 https:Ildoi.org/l 0.1007/s40803-022-00185-7 ARTICLE The Rule of Law as a Constitutional Mandate for the EU Werner Schroeder' Accepted: 17 November 2022 / Published online: 8 December 2022 ŠThe Author(s) 2022 Abstract The rule of law and the other values contained in Article 2 of the Treaty on Euro- pean Union (Art 2 TEU) comprise the constitutional identity of the European Union (Union). These values form part of the Union's very foundation. Art 3(1) and (6) TEU, in conjunction with Art 2 TEU, declare the Union's aim to promote and pursue the rule of law as one of its core values. These provisions indicate that the rule of law is not only a constitutional principle but gives the Union a mandate to shape its policies accordingly in order to create an enabling ecosystem for the rule of law in the Member States. The Union may counter internal threats to the rule of law, but it can and should also take positive legal action to strengthen and consolidate the rule of law in the Member States by making use of its sectoral law-making competences. Proactively, the rule of law must be implemented and specified through Union sec- ondary law and made the yardstick for legislative, administrative and judicial activ- ity in the Member States. Keywords Rule of Law - European Union - Values - Principles - Constitution- Competences - Objectives - Mainstreaming 1 The Need to Strengthen the Rule of Law in the Member States Whereas some time ago there was talk of a tendency towards the rule of law 'back- sliding' in certain Member States regarding the acquis of the accession,' it can be no longer presumed that the EU is a Union of rule of law-based democracies, as its Treaties imply.2 It has become obvious that the rule of law is under real threat in L Pech and KL Scheppele, 'Illiberalism Within: Rule of Law Backsliding in the EU' (2017) 19 Cam- bridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies 3. 2 KL Scheppele, D Kochenov and B Grabowska-Moroz, 'EU Values Are Law, after All: Enforcing EU Values through Systemic Infringement Actions by the European Commission and the Member States of the European Union' (2020) 39 Yearbook of European Law 3, 5. E Werner Schroeder werner.schroeder@uibk.ac.at Professor, Department of European Law and Public International Law, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria Springer 0 ASSER PRESS