Sinopsis

Some years ago, the free world began to speak of rule of law backsliding to describe a series of surprising, isolated developments that challenged the principles we had taken for granted in recent decades, such as the separation of powers, the protection

and balances, etc. But the rise of populism and nationalism, the global pandemic, and the outbreak of new wars have deepened the problem. Today, backsliding is far too mild a term. It has steadily given way to more forceful yet accurate terms, such as rule of law crisis, erosion, decline, deterioration, degradation, or even decay. We may even speak of a disintegration of the rule of law --an alarming process which is spreading rapidly and undermining democratic political systems across

or it will cease to be.

That is why, in October 2024, a group of distinguished scholars and policymakers from across Europe gathered at Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU in Valencia, Spain, for the international congress "Overcoming the Crisis of Democratic Values in the EU." They analyzed the discouraging reality and explored possible solutions to the problem.

The main outcome of this congress is this book, which is divided into two volumes. Volume I contains the contributions made by the guest speakers, and volume II includes a selection of the presentations made at the two panels of the congress. These volumes are an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand not only how the rule of law crisis emerged in the EU, but, above all, how it might be overcome.