Reshaping EU fundamental rights' obligations of the Member States through EU funding

The EU is increasingly using EU funding and conditionality to influence the functioning of EU member states’ structures. The development of such governance through funding has a strong impact on the limits of Member States’ fundamental rights obligations. My research examines, first, to what extent the implementation of EU-funded projects plays a role in the way national administrations take account of EU fundamental rights’ obligations. Second, it analyses the situations in which EU fundamental rights requirements are indirectly imposed to the Member States through the use of funding conditionality, such as when specific reforms are undertaken at national level in order for the Member States to receive EU money. Ultimately, the use of funding , in some situations, may constitute an alternative instrument for setting, improving or enforcing fundamental rights’ standards at national level.