THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Reforming Europe in a time of war

The Rule of Law Situation in the European Union 57 unanimity that would block the drift towards a breach, in the belief that it would suffice. And, indeed, during the first decade of the 21 st cen- tury it seemed that this “nuclear deterrent” was enough. However, as in the story by Monterroso, “the dinosaur was still there”. And one of the consequences of the financial crisis of 2008 was a return among part of public opinion to nationalism and identity as opposed to global cosmopolitism, as well as to the perception of a wider social gap in terms of inequality 10 . Faced with this drift, over the last 10 years the EU has equipped itself with a “tool box” designed to furnish the concept of the rule of law in the EU with its own protec- tion, with full respect for identity and national traditions, but ensuring respect for the common values. Without a global vision of their own, our values and interests would be in jeopardy, both from the viewpoint of the EU’s own constitutional model, in which one can only be a party if the values of Article 2 are respected, and of the cohesion and functioning of our single market in a space without borders.As European Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso said in his annual State of the Union ad- dress to the European Parliament in September 2012: “We need a better developed set of instruments, not just the alternative between the ‘soft power’ of political per- suasion and the ‘nuclear option’ of Article 7 TEU” 11 . The tools available The EU has equipped itself with a more complete set of instruments over the last few years, as can be seen in these infographics ( Figures 1 and 2 ) 12 , combining promotion (1) , prevention (2) and response (3) . 10  Castellá Andreu, Josep M. and Simonelli, Marco A. (editors): Populism and Contemporary Democracy in Europe. Cham 2022. 11  Cited in the Communication from the Commission 11.3.2014 (COM (2014) 158 final) A new EU Framework to strengthen the Rule of Law, p. 2. 12  https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/116_1_194503_rol_ toolbox_factsheet_en. Apart from certain specific programmes, such as the cooperation and verification mechanism, or the support for structural reforms, or the financial support for civil society organisations, in the second decade of the 21 st century two tools of a horizontal nature have served to take a very precise picture of the mechanisms of judicial independence in the states that enabled safeguarding the principle of effective judicial protection and the battle against corruption: the European Semester, which since 2011 has included specific recommendations on justice systems and the fight against corruption as necessary for economic growth; and the Justice Scoreboard, which since 2013 has logged comparable data on legal and business operators’ perception of the independence, quality and efficiency of national justice systems 13 . Clearly, all these tools form part of what in 2012 President Barroso called “the soft power of political per- suasion”. However, given the intrinsic difficulties of em- ploying Article 7 of the TEU if persuasion fails to work, as its implementation depends on unanimity, prompting agreements and political coalitions of interests, on 11 March 2014 the European Commission, in its role as “guardian of the Treaties”, took a step towards a “firm hand” with the adoption of a Rule of Law Frame- work via the previously mentioned Communication. The Commission can activate this Framework “in cases where the mechanisms established at national level to secure the rule of law cease to operate effectively, there is a systemic threat to the rule of law and, hence, to the functioning of the EU (…). In such situations, the EU needs to act to protect the rule of law as a common value of the Union ” 14 . This Framework was the re- sponse to debates in the Council and in the European Parliament over the course of 2013, inviting the Com- mission to take action. The Rule of Law Framework is used to activate a process prior to the triggering of Article 7 TEU, allowing 13  Communication from the Commission 27.3.2013 (COM(2013) 0160 final) The EU Justice Scoreboard A tool to promote effective justice and growth. 14  See note 11, p. 5.