The use of Article 7 TEU against Poland and Hungary has been generally welcomed with relief, proving that, at last, the EU is ready to defend Article 2 TEU values when Member States openly violate them. However, it is not clear yet what the main value that is claimed to be breached − the rule of law − amounts to in the EU. Actually, the resort to Article 7 TEU crowns a process of equipping the EU with a rule of law framework to combat Member States’ failures in both law making and enforcement, regardless of the law’s content and provenance. This article demonstrates that the EU rule of law is anchored to a ‘thin’ conceptualisation of the ideal and that the EU is moving from a mere rule of EU law towards a more sophisticated EU rule of law perspective. This process is, at the same time, enlarging the boundaries of the EU legal order and reaffirming the Union character − and not Unity only − of EU integration through law. Keywords: EU values, EU law, rule of law, rule of law crisis, compliance.

中文翻译：

---

欧盟的法治：在联盟与统一之间

人们普遍放心地欢迎对波兰和匈牙利使用第7条TEU的标准，这证明，当成员国公开违反它们时，欧盟终于准备捍卫第2条TEU的价值。但是，目前尚不清楚被宣称被违反的主要价值-法治-在欧盟中的价值。实际上，诉诸第7条TEU的过程是为欧盟提供一个法治框架的过程，以打击成员国在立法和执法方面的失败，无论法律的内容和出处如何。本文表明，欧盟法治与理想的“薄”概念化息息相关，并且欧盟正在从单纯的欧盟法治向更为复杂的欧盟法治视角转变。同时，此过程 扩大了欧盟法律秩序的界限，并重申了欧盟通过法律进行一体化的性质，而不仅仅是重申了统一性。关键字：欧盟价值观，欧盟法律，法治，法治危机，合规。