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On 28 November 2023, Finland decided to close all its land border crossing stations to Russia due to the latter's apparent instrumentalization of migrants. That a foreign power, which conducts war elsewhere in Europe, directly engages in unfriendly acts against the EU's (as well as NATO's) eastern flank highlights the issues of national security involved. The situation is part of a broader European dilemma but presents certain idiosyncracies. How is an EU Member State such as Finland, respectful of the rule of law, to respond to such unfriendly acts which intrumentalize the vulnerable position of asylum seekers whose rights must, in principle, be observed at all times? This brief post addresses some of the legal issues involved in the currently unfolding situation.

By now it has become clear that Poland is not willing to discharge the definitive judicial penalties of over EUR 600 million which the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ordered it to pay for failing to observe coercive interim measures. When the Commission announced it would proceed to set off the outstanding amounts against money due to Poland from the EU budget, the Polish government vowed to fight the recovery 'with all legal means'. Recently, Poland has put its money where its mouth is. It has brought four cases before the General Court to challenge the recovery. These actions have thus far evaded closer scrutiny in the legal blogosphere. However, they contain a significant challenge to the EU's powers to enforce judicial penalties against Member States, namely as regards recovery by offsetting. As the cases raise issues which may have repercussions beyond these proceedings, this post casts a closer look at Poland's applications and analyses their potential broader significance.

Does the EU have enough leverage to police the rule of law in Member States? This article first outlines how the infringement procedure is functionally adequate to address breaches of the rule of law. It argues that EU law entails "structural obligations" for Member States to uphold the rule of law within their legal systems. To the extent respecting such structural obligations is indispensable for observing specific EU law rules, their breach can be the target of infringement proceedings. The article then analyses the EU's leverage to guarantee the authority of EU law in case of Member States' non-compliance with fines imposed in that procedure. The article concludes that the recovery of fines by set-off against EU money enables effective policing if respect for the rule of law is deficient, and constitutes, therefore, an essential constitutional guarantee of the EU legal order.

"Allan Rosas is one of the leading European Union jurists of a generation. His impact on the legal landscape of the EU has been immense. This collection brings together colleagues from the worlds of the judiciary, academia and practice, to grapple with one of the key questions underpinning his contribution: is the trajectory of EU law one of ever closer union? With essays exploring topics as diverse as national identity and European construction to Brexit, this collection is a fitting tribute to an unrivalled EU law career"--