‘Build democratic institutions that withstand a rightwing takeover!’ – This is one of the four lessons I am drawing from five years of Ursula von der Leyen at the helm of the EU-Commission. (And her failure to properly defend EU values). Why we have to brace for tougher times and why courageous MEPs make the difference: Read more in my op-ed for Social Europe. Feel free to share your thoughts with me.

Best, 

Daniel

Defending the rule of law under Ursula von der Leyen – 4 lessons from the European Parliament

In her address to the European Parliament in July 2019, as candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen insisted that ‘there can be no compromise when it comes to respecting the rule of law’. She struck a chord with MEPs.

At the beginning of this term the European Union was confronted with the authoritarian agenda of the governments in Poland and Hungary. Others in Slovenia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic were flirting with the playbook to subvert the rule of law of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán.

The commission seemed however neither willing nor in possession of the right tools to counter anti-democratic policies in European Union member states. It was time to take action and to protect democracy and European values.

Today—five years later—the right-wing populist governments in Poland and Slovenia are history, having been ousted in democratic elections. Orbán is still in power but for the first time EU institutions have used funds they disburse as a lever to enforce rule-of-law reforms: some €20 billion earmarked for Budapest remains frozen.

But the fight for the defence of European democracy is far from over. The coming European Parliament elections could reinforce those political forces in the EU willing to follow in Orbán’s illiberal footsteps. With a parliament shifting to the right, the rule of law might appear in the crosshairs of the populists again.

So what can be done when it comes to ‘defending Europe’s values’, as von der Leyen put it five years ago? Four lessons have emerged meantime from the European Parliament:

Read my full op-ed here:

https://www.socialeurope.eu/defending-the-rule-of-law-in-the-eu