WHAT IT TAKES TO PROTECT FUNDAMENTAL VALUES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The policy brief by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael is an internal strategic document aimed at moving the system of control over adherence to ideological guidelines and political decisions from the realm of political negotiations to the field of technocratic regulation. The authors of the study focus on systemic weaknesses of the key mechanism - the annual EU Rule of Law report.

The report mentions the “blind spots” in monitoring of adherence to basic human rights as interpreted by Brussels. It is noted that the measures already taken to make economic arguments for the use of financial sanctions stronger were not enough. The existing norms limit the ability of Brussels to use finances to impact domestic policy of the member states.

As a positive sign, the authors note that in the 2025 report the rule of law violations, such as corruption or flawed public procurement, are linked with direct economic risks for the EU budget. According to the experts, it will help to simplify the procedures of applying financial sanctions and minimize the need for political consensus with the national governments when making decisions on certain issues.

The study criticizes the fact that the report is limited to monitoring national institutions ignoring the assessment of adherence of countries to such domestic policy principles that Brussels interprets as the “fundamental rights”. As a weakness, the report authors mention poor use of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) data on discrimination, situation with minorities, and civil society freedom. Therefore, the instrument fails to monitor those very areas where ideological resistance to the Brussels policy is manifested most often.

The authors appeal for spreading of monitoring and sanctions to the issues of respecting the rights of LGBT+, migrants, ideological pluralism in the media, and education. Thus, the report turns from the legal audit document into a tool of promoting a specific social and liberal model.

It is proposed that the strengthening of the financial leverage is to be done in conjunction with the European Democracy Shield program aimed at fighting “foreign intervention”.

Under Viktor Orbán, Hungary resists the pressure from Brussels in spite of the financial pressure and sanctions from the EU. However, the EU authorities had to make multiple political concessions to the government of Viktor Orbán. The study notes that such practice of political bargaining deprives the EU instruments of their power and predictability. The proposals are aimed at making a system where such maneuvers would become impossible from the technical point of view.

For the EU countries that pursue a conservative social policy, the implementation of the Clingendael’s proposals means an even stronger pressure. The threat of financial losses will become permanent, automatic and will be based on an extended list of requirements including matters of family, education, migration, and minority rights.

The document reflects the EU supra-national structures’ ambition to strengthen their power and overcome resistance of national governments through the depoliticized technocratic procedures. It undermines the principle of unanimity and discloses the ideological conflict between supra-national regulation and the protection of national sovereignty.