Co-organized with the European Commission, the conference took place in the framework of the Portuguese presidency of the European Union in a hybrid format (in person and online), with the aim of “assessing the efforts the EU has undertaken to promote and maintain the rule of law”, one of the fundamental principles enshrined in the Treaty on European Union.

 

Among the topics under discussion, spread across six panels, are the rule of law in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, the link between rule of law, social progress and economic recovery, as well as the involvement of civil society and the role of the courts in promoting and upholding the rule of law.

 

The two days of debates also featured, among others, the President of the Court of Justice of the EU, Koen Lenaerts, the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Róbert Ragnar Spanó, the President of the Portuguese Supreme Court, António Piçarra, the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, the German Minister for Europe, Michael Roth, the Slovenian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Gasper Dovzan, and the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Vera Jourová.