Mobility Phase: University of Gothenburg | Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg
The Politics of the EU Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Reform
Photo: Joanna Scheffel
Dr Andi Hoxhaj is an early career scholar at the Warwick Law School, University of Warwick and teaches in the European Union Law module. He is an award winning teacher in EU law; a recipient of the Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence for the 2020/21 academic year. Dr Hoxhaj was awarded his PhD in 2017 at the University of Warwick and his areas of focus are corruption, governance, civil society, the rule of law, European integration and engagement in the Western Balkans. He is an author of the book titled “The EU Anti-Corruption Policy: A Reflexive Governance Approach” (Routledge, 2020). Dr Hoxhaj has also published peer-review articles on the rule of law, anti-corruption, the EU enlargement policy and engagement with the Western Balkans. In April 2018, Dr Hoxhaj was awarded the British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award for a project titled “The UK—Western Balkans post-Brexit”. His insight on corruption, good governance, EU enlargement policy, and the migration of young people in the Western Balkans were referred to in a parliamentary inquiry report “The UK and the future of the Western Balkans” published by the United Kingdom Parliament in 2018.
The Politics of the EU Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Reform
The project critically analyses the European Commission annual EU Rule of Law Report, presenting a scholarly comparison between the 2020 Report, and forthcoming 2021 Report. In particular, it assesses and compares the recommendations issued by the Commission in the Reports by offering a summary of the main issues identified, especially under the anti-corruption framework and other institutional issues related to the Report’s checks and balances pillar. The project evaluates if the anti-corruption framework under the EU Rule of Law Report is an adequate substitution to the EU Anti-Corruption Report in monitoring corruption and coordinating anti-corruption efforts in the Member States. Furthermore, the project discusses the gaps in the methodology used by the Commission in the Report, offering recommendations on how the Commission can make the Report more comprehensive, identifying additional areas and including more examples of threats to the function of the rule of law and democracy in the EU. This project also engages in a scholarly discussion about how the rule of law is conceptualised by the Commission in the Report, and more generally in the Member States by offering analysis on the new forms of violation of EU fundamental values and the rule of law in the field of academic freedom.
