Rule of Law Conditionality

Over the last decade, the European Union's (EU) rule of law instruments have grown exponentially. This development was commensurable to the rule of law challenges that the EU faced within the Member States – Hungary and Poland being the main perpetrators. However, more instruments have not led to better results. Instead, the EU has turned to budget conditionality as the ultima ratio in the rule of law crisis. Financial conditionality has become the EU’s instrument of choice to safeguard the rule of law in the Member States. This chapter analyses the so-called Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation –Regulation (EU) 2020/2092 -- and situates it within the Post-Pandemic EU framework of Economic Governance.