Rule of Law and the 2022 Czech Presidency: Strengthening Resiliency and Avoiding Conflicts
- Ivo Šlosarčík
Abstract
The insertion of “resiliency of democratic institutions” into the five key priorities of the 2022 Czech presidency indicates a political commitment to focus on the rule of law agenda. The following text aspires to map the practice of the Czech presidency in the domain of democratic institutions and rule of law and explain the reasons behind its (in)ability to deliver the expected outcomes. Firstly, the article analyses the specifics of the EU regulatory framework for the rule of law, and the impact of the Czech internal political situation after the 2021 parliamentary elections on the presidency’s performance. Secondly, the text covers four key policy issues that required the presidency’s attention in the second half of 2022: the evaluation of the judicial systems of member states, the formation of new EU rules for media freedom and the fight against disinformation, the amendment of the EP election process, and the judicial response to the crimes committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Keywords
Czech Republic, rotating presidency, Council of the EU, rule of law, judiciary, media freedom, Hungary, International Criminal Court, Poland
Author Biography
Ivo Šlosarčík
Ivo Šlosarčík is lawyer and professor of European Integration Studies at Charles University in Prague where he holds Jean Monnet Chair in EU Politics and Administration, and Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law. Ivo Šlosarčík is co-founder of EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy where he acted as director for research in years 2002-2007. Having graduated from Central European University in Budapest (LL.M. in comparative constitutional law) and Charles University in Prague (Ph.D. in international law), Ivo Šlosarčík’s has researched and published extensively on topics of the EU constitutionalization, rule of law, Europeanization of judicial and administrative structures, EU criminal law and on Irish politics.