External Threats to EU Constitutional Values
This research project examines the European Union’s legal tools to protect its constitutional values—democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental rights—when these are threatened by actors outside the Union. While considerable attention has been devoted to mechanisms addressing internal backsliding by Member States, the external dimension of safeguarding EU values remains underexplored. Preliminary research indicates that, despite the EU’s extensive use of foreign policy tools to promote democracy abroad, only in the 2024 sanctions against Russia has the Union explicitly sought to counter external actions undermining its own constitutional values. Yet, foreign interference, including from allies such as the United States, continues to threaten EU democratic institutions. In this context, the European Commission’s consideration of the anti-coercion mechanism to counter US pressure on enforcement against American tech companies signals a shift towards deploying external action instruments to defend internal values. This project will therefore explore the legal and strategic potential of CFSP restrictive measures and the anti-coercion instrument to respond to foreign threats to EU values, drawing lessons from both external actions and the EU’s efforts to address internal backsliding.
