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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benedetta Lobina

Benedetta Lobina is a PhD researcher at UCD Sutherland School of Law, studying the impact of domestic rule of law deficiencies on EU integration.
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POSTS BY Benedetta Lobina
31 July 2024

Breaking Bad all’Italiana

The European Commission's 2024 Annual Rule of Law Report provides some analysis of Italy’s current political and judicial landscape under Meloni’s right wing rule. While the expectations towards the Report were low, the document must be read as a wakeup call, as Italy sets out to be the new Hungary. Continue reading >>
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15 December 2023

Same Old, Same Old

Following the General Affairs Council on 12 December 2023, the Spanish presidency issued its conclusions on the evaluation of the Annual Rule of Law Dialogue (ARoLD). The overly positive assessment that transpires from the conclusion fails to convince, due to the continued reliance on confidentiality and the lack of any tangible standards. Moreover, the improvements suggested by the Presidency fall overwhelmingly short of addressing the issues that plague this instrument, confirming it as a weak exercise in posturing with no real stakes involved.   Continue reading >>
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07 December 2023

Beating a Dead Horse

With the view of potentially revising how the EU Council’s Annual Rule of Law, the Spanish Presidency of the Council had sent out a “questionnaire for the Member States on the evaluation of the Council’s annual rule of law dialogue. The provided answers will inform conclusions to be adopted following the General Affairs Council scheduled for 12 December 2023. Following the disclosure of the MS’ answers to this questionnaire, this post will discuss the added value of this discursive and secretive tool to address systemic threats to or violations of the rule of law. I argue that the answers reveal the dialogue to be an ultimately toothless and partially incoherent exercise that relies excessively on the good faith of its participants and lacks accountability by design. Continue reading >>
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