On March 5, Visiting Fulbright Scholar Dr. Susana Sanz Caballero spoke about her “Comparative Study of the Decline of the Rule of Law in the European Union and the U.S. and Possible Ways Out.”

For the next six months, the CSI Department of Political Science and Global Affairs will host Dr. Sanz Caballero, who is also a Jean Monett Professor in European Studies and a Professor of Public International Law at Cardenal Herrera University in Spain. Her research also involves the powers of preventive action of the United Nations Secretary General, which are rooted in the UN Charter to uphold international peace and security. In her many publications, she also recognizes and advocates for vulnerable groups, especially in regard to human and civil rights.

In Dr. Sanz Caballero’s lecture, she explained the current situation in some of the European Union’s member states, especially after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, and the growth of the size of the European Union. On May 1, 2004, the EU expanded from 15 to 25 members, known as the 2004 Accession. Many of these countries were evaluated and had to begin to follow the rules of democracy. Since then, some member countries have seemed to shift from the rule of law, feeling that it wasn’t suitable to their own values, causing division between EU members.

Article 7 of the TEU (Treaty on European Union) is a procedure that allows a suspension of voting rights or sanctions to a member state that is at risk of breaching the EU’s fundamental values. The first application of Article 7 happened in 2000 when Austria formed a government involving the right-wing populist Freedom Party, which had an openly racist and xenophobic agenda. The call for Article 7 seemed excessive, so instead member states of the EU cut off diplomatic contacts.

In 2014, the Prime Minister of Hungary and leader of the Fidesz Party Viktor Orbán gave a speech in Romania where he coined the term Illiberal Democracy. In 2010, the Fidesz Party made a series of constitutional and legislative reforms pushed through the parliament due to gerrymandering, furthering its authoritarian policies, which led to Article 7 being triggered against Hungary in 2018.

In the preceding year, Poland was the target of Article 7 due to the European Commission’s belief that Poland’s government was removing the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary branches. From 2016-2023, democracy in Poland significantly eroded due to suppressed political opposition, and checks and balances, as well as undermined minority rights. Dr. Sanz Caballero mentioned, however, that as of late, Poland has tried moving slowly toward the rule of law by electing a new government.

Dr. Sanz Caballeros’ lecture mentioned the controversial pardons in the U.S. that are similar to pardons she had mentioned in Spain, where 18 Catalonian politicians and independence leaders were imprisoned for holding an electoral vote for independence by an unjust political process and were then pardoned. Both governing powers jeopardize the function of some of the major parts of government and show lack of respect for judicial decisions, separation of powers, and legal certainty. Former President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son and President Donald Trump’s pardon of up to 1,500 people, including those imprisoned for violent crimes, are actions of leaders prioritizing political interest over reasons of justice.

With diversity in the EU comes more dilution but that isn’t to say some other Eastern European member states aren’t doing any better than the aforementioned countries. Latvia and Estonia are two countries who have improved in recent years, which can be seen by their WJP (World Justice Project) rule of law index scores.

Dr. Susana Sanz Caballero will continue to research the need for Europe to stand united as it did in the past in an effort to keep countries and their people from suffering the corruption of an oligarchical government.