Politics of the Rule of Law in the EU Polity

This book analyses the challenges facing the European Union through the frame of the rule of law. It shows how over the last decades the increaseddissensusandcontestation of the rule of law has given rise to heightened tensions between national and EU institutions, leading to the establishment of newsoft and hard policytools to safeguard it at the supranational level. The book proposes a comprehensive and multifaceted analysis of the current state of debates by exploring howEU institutional actorsseek to upholdthe Union'svalues.It shows thatEuropean integration in core state powers is the outcome of the clash between liberal and anti-liberal ideas, between dissensus and contestation over how collective problems should be solved, in a community of voices featuring assent and dissent, all of which give democracy its substance. Beyond the analysis of the emerging EU's rule of law policy,the bookwill help readersto better understand the EU's fragilities and resilienceandthe potential challenges for the future of EU integration.