ZAŠTITA VREDNOSTI EVROPSKE UNIJE U DRŽAVAMA ČLANICAMA KROZ MEHANIZAM SANKCIJA - DOMET I DEJSTVA ČLANA 7 UGOVORA O EVROPSKOJ UNIJI
PROTECTION OF THE EU VALUES IN THE EU MEMBER STATES THROUGH THE SANCTION MECHANISM: THE SCOPE AND THE IMPACT OF ARTICLE 7 TEU

Summary/Abstract: The concept of the EU as a value-based union clearly indicates its political dimension. The EU is a specific club whose members can only be states constituted on democratic principles. Article 2 TEU sets the values which form the framework of a democratic constitutional order: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. Although there is a presumption that all EU member states are democratic, and that they respect the values set in Article 2 TEU, Article 7 TEU establishes a specific mechanism for the EU intervention when a member state violates these values. In the first phase of the mechanism, the EU can act to prevent eventual violation of values, in cases in which 'there is a clear risk of a serious breach by a Member State of the values referred to in Article 2'. In such a case, the Council may determine the situation or address recommendations to the respective member state. In the second phase of the mechanism, the EU can act when the violation has actually occurred. In this case the European council may determine the existence of 'a serious and persistent breach by a Member State of the values referred to in Article 2'. On ground of such a decision the Council may decide to suspend certain of the rights to the member state, and this instrument is actually the third phase of the mechanism. The intervention of the EU on ground of Article 7 TEU is in its core a political one, since the decision about the violation of values or its possibility is based on political perception of the players involved in the procedure. With Article 7 TEU, the EU law has set a legal path for the EU intervention in an area which is traditionally perceived as sovereign domain of a state. However, the fact that Article 7 TEU has never been applied plausibly shows resistance of the EU member states to open their national orders for such an activity of the EU.

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