Application of Enforcement Mechanisms for Compliance with the Principle of the Rule of Law in European Union Practice

INTRODUCTION. The current stage of development of integration processes within the European Union is accompanied by a clash between European identity and the national identity of individual European Union (EU) member states, which advocate building a national state and legal system in accordance with their own national ideas. In order to bring national approaches to supranational standards, EU institutions required the invention of ever new enforcement mechanisms, which are clothed in the form of mechanisms for monitoring compliance with the rule of law in individual EU member states. One of the most striking examples of the use of appropriate mechanisms was forcing Poland to comply with the principle of the rule of law in its supranational understanding. The analysis of the Polish experience takes on additional relevance in the context of the fact that pressure from EU institutions contributed to a change in the ruling party in Poland. PiS lost in the 2023 Sejm elections and in December 2023 a pro-European government led by D. Tusk came to power in Poland. The purpose of this article is to, based on an analysis of the practice of applying mechanisms for enforcing the rule of law (as understood by the EU) in relation to Poland, to identify key aspects of the evolution, as well as the current state of the system of enforcing member states to comply with the core values of the EU. MATERIALS AND METHODS. When conducting the study, a wide range of supranational acts and official EU documents related to the application of mechanisms for enforcing compliance with the rule of law in relation to Poland was used. Also, materials from the law enforcement practice of the EU Court of Justice were used as a source for analysis. Additionally, publications in the media, official speeches and statements of Polish and European political figures were involved. General scientific (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, system method) and special scientific methods were used, which include: comparative legal method, historical legal method, method of analysis of judicial practice, formal legal method, etc. RESEARCH RESULTS. The article provides a consistent analysis of the key mechanisms for forcing Poland to comply with the requirements of the rule of law in its supranational interpretation, which explains a lot in the polarization of the country's political forces and the periodically escalating confrontation between Warsaw and Brussels. The effectiveness of the applied mechanisms was assessed. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS. Based on an analysis of the Polish experience, the conclusion is formulated that currently the EU has formed an effective financial and budgetary mechanism for forcing member states to comply with the requirements of the rule of law. It is substantiated that this mechanism today includes two key elements: general (the mechanism of conditionality of the rule of law of measures to protect the EU budget) and special (the mechanism of conditionality of the rule of law of providing financing from a special Recovery and Resilience Fund, formed to ensure post-pandemic recovery in 2021–2027). The article also concludes that other mechanisms for forcing EU member states to comply with the principle of the rule of law in its supranational understanding are ineffective. Thus, the following are characterized by low effectiveness: Framework procedure for combating systemic threats to the rule of law; Mechanism for redressing a serious and persistent violation by a Member State of EU values; Mechanism for strengthening the rule of law; as well as appealing individual actions of member states to the EU Court of Justice.