Republic of Poland v. European Parliament and Council of the European Union, Case C-157/21, CJEU, (Plenary Session), 17 February 2022

Conditionality and the rule of law.

Art. 2, TEU
Art. 7, TEU
Art. 322, TFEU
Art. 269, TFEU

1. The Court reaffirms the essential nature of the fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 TEU as principles that must guide the actions of the Member States as from their accession to the EU. In particular, it is stated that respect for these values cannot be reduced to an obligation that a candidate State must comply with in order to join the EU and that it may disregard after accession. Moreover, the European Union must be able to defend these values, within the limits of its competences established by the Treaties.
(The Court of Justice of the European Union rejected Hungary's application for annulment of the conditionality regime for the protection of the Union's budget in case of violation of the principles of the rule of law).