Rule of Law and the Economic Crisis in a Pluralist European Union

By way of introduction to the special issue, the article's objective is threefold. First, it conceptually re-examines the often assumed correlation between the rule of law and economy. Secondly, it situates this conceptual relationship in the present crisis-ridden context of the European Union as synthesized in the contributions to the special issue. By so doing, it demonstrates that due to the EU's pluralist nature, the economic and rule of law crises have had very different faces and consequences in different member states. Despite that the article in conclusion nevertheless tries to identify the shared patterns of the crisis and, in the inevitable absence of a single way of improving the situation, proposes at least a common one.