EU Values: From Principles to Practice

In Commission v Hungary the Court found for the first time ever an independent breach of fundamental values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). These values, common to all Member States, form the foundation of the European Union.

The case concerned an infringement action against Hungarian legislation restricting access to content portraying or promoting gender identities that do not correspond to the sex assigned at birth, sex reassignment, or homosexuality.

The judgment is significant as it confirms that the Union's fundamental values can constitute an independent legal basis for infringement proceedings. At the same time, the judgment raises questions regarding the scope and limits of this new avenue for the judicial enforcement of EU values.

At the seminar, Professor Lucia Serena Rossi, a former Judge of the Court of Justice and Professor of EU Law at the University of Bologna, will present her SIEPS publication on this judgment. Having served as a judge in cases that contributed to the development of the case law underpinning the Court's reasoning in Commission v Hungary, Professor Rossi will offer insights into the judgment and its wider constitutional significance.

This will be followed by a presentation by Frida Louise Göransson, LL.D., Deputy Head of the Secretariat for EU Legal Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, on Sweden's involvement in Commission v Hungary and its earlier work on rule of law backsliding among the Member States.

The seminar will conclude with a discussion featuring Professor Antonina Bakardjieva of Stockholm University, Professor Xavier Groussot of Lund University, Frida-Louise Göransson and Lucia Serena Rossi.