TEPSA is happy to present its new policy brief “Safeguarding the Rule of Law in the European Union: Pre-Accession Conditionality and Post-Accession Reality” written by Ilina Cenevska, Ph.D. and Assistant Professor of European Union Law at the Faculty of Law “Justinianus Primus” – Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia.

Abstract
This brief discusses the current rule of law backsliding developments in some EU Member States, bringing these in correlation with the shortcomings of EU’s accession methodology, particularly regarding the assessment of a candidate country’s fulfilment of the EU membership criteria. These shortcomings are thereupon reflected in the post-accession reality, i.e. once the candidate country becomes a Member State and paint a problematic picture of the coherence of EU’s value-based order.