Why an EU country under the surveillance procedure (Article 7.1 TEU) should not chair the Council Presidency

Abstract Mutual trust that is the bedrock of intra‐EU cooperation should not be equated to ‘blind trust’ when a Member State is under the ‘surveillance’ procedure foreseen by Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union. In this perspective it would be risky for the European Council to recognise a key coordinating role, as is the case when holding the Council Presidency, to a Member State under Article 7.1 TUE. It would then be sensible for the Council to modify its 2016 Decision, and delay the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union to such a time when the Article 7(1) TEU surveillance procedure will have been successfully concluded.