Foreword: Fuzzy Borders

The preface discusses the difficulty of distinguishing with precision between allegiance to the foundational value of the rule of law, deciding when it is transgressed, and when it is rejected. This spills over in the issue of how to deal with the infringement, the transgression and rejection of the rule of law, which is the central theme of this book.
It explains how the matter is further complicated by the boundaries of European integration as a political and legal project, which for lawyers raises the question of the scope of European law, and of its demarcation from matters that are left to the legal and political orders of member states. For one thing, this issue is decisive for the competence of the Union, which hinges on the concrete conferral of powers on the Union. And yet there is consensus that the validity of the founding values (Art 2 TEU) are not restricted to areas within the scope of EU law in the ordinary sense.