The European Commission adopted on Tuesday a new framework for addressing systemic threats to the rule of law in any of the EU's 28 Member States. 

The initiative comes after the College of Commissioners held two orientation debates on the rule of law on 28 August 2013 and on 25 February 2014, which concluded that there is a need to develop a tool to deal, at EU level, with systemic threats to the rule of law. 

The new rule of law framework will be complementary to infringement procedures - when EU law has been breached – and to the so-called 'Article 7 procedure' of the Lisbon Treaty which, at its most severe, allows for the suspension of voting rights in case of a "serious and persistent breach" of EU values by a Member State. 

The new framework establishes an early warning tool allowing the Commission to enter into a dialogue with the Member State concerned to prevent the escalation of systemic threats to the rule of law. If no solution is found within the new EU rule of law framework, Article 7 will always remain the last resort to resolve a crisis and ensure compliance with European Union values. The new framework does not constitute or claim new competencies for the Commission but makes transparent how the Commission exercises its role under the Treaties.

"The rule of law is one of the founding pillars of the European Union,“ said European Commission President Josе Manuel Durаo Barroso, quoted by the EC website. “This is what our Union is built upon. The European Commission has a crucial role in upholding the rule of law as the Guardian of the Treaties.“

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