SIPA Lecture - The promotion of Rule of Law by the EU

On April 22nd, the Democratization and Governance Working Group at SIPA co-organized with the European Students Association (ESA) a discussion on “The Promotion of Rule of Law by The European Union”. The lecture was delivered by Mr. Lambert Schmidt, from the Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security at the European Commission, who is also at present an “Émile Noël Governance Fellow” at the NYU School of Law.

Mr. Schmidt provided a general picture of the current challenges faced by the EU in the promotion of rule of law both within Europe and in other parts of the world. The topics discussed included the encompassing character of the “rule of law” notion and the different mechanisms used by the EU in its advancement. Some of the issues raised by the audience during the Q&A session also included the challenge of coordination of the different rule of law donors or questions about the strategy developed by the EU in the case of specific countries.