Illiberal populism against the rule of law: the European defense of judicial independence

The European Union is a Community of Law. The Rule of Law is a European value enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. Its effectiveness requires the existence of an independent Judicial Power in the Union itself and in each and every one of the Member States. Today it is threatened by an internal enemy: illiberal populism that challenges the counter-majoritarian institutions of control of power. In the first part of this paper I will show the incompatibility of illiberal populism with the democratic political culture that gives meaning to counter-majoritarian institutions. Incompatibility that directly leads him to challenge a basic principle inherent to that, such as respect for judicial independence. In the second, I will analyze the response given by the European Union, and specifically, the Court of Justice, to the attacks on judicial independence by the Polish State.