Treaty changes for the better protection of EU values in the Member States

Abstract Safeguarding the rule of law, human rights and democratic legitimacy should indeed be non‐negotiable. This being said, the entire discussion over the core Europe and a wider circle of Member States would be redundant if there existed a shared respect for the rule of law and other values delineated in Article 2 TEU. Consequently, we place an emphasis on the need to prioritise rule of law enforcement over a multi‐speed Europe. We view the proposals we present from the EU's standpoint as instruments of robust rule of law enforcement and entrenchment, or tools of militant rule of law designed to safeguard the current functioning and long‐term existence of the European project – notwithstanding the fact that the procedures and legal principles we advocate for can also function as an external check on national governments, thus contributing to the reinforcement of values at both levels of governance.