Acta Iuris Stetinensis

Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on the general system of conditionality to protect the Union budget entered into force in January 2021. It essentially aims to establish the mechanisms necessary to protect the Union budget in the event of violations of the rule of law in the Member States. As such, it becomes, in simple terms, an instrument that makes the transfer of EU funds conditional on member states’ respect for the rule of law. The main aim of this study was to assess the application of the conditionality regulation in practice from the point of view of the protection of the rule of law and its role in this regard. The considerations presented are aimed at determining whether the practical implementation of the regulation on conditionality confirms its “usefulness” for strengthening the rule of law in the Union’s member states. The analyses undertaken should thus – with reference to the leitmotif of the Volume – make it possible to determine to what extent “EU money”, within the framework of the procedures established by the Regulation, effectively strengthens the rule of law by motivating member states to behave in a certain way. In this context, the dogmatic-legal method (combined with a case study) was made the leading research method. At the same time, the article was divided into three parts, including the presentation of the genesis and analysis of the purpose and main objectives of the regulation in the context of protecting the rule of law, cases of its practical application, and the effects of the implementation of the regulation, along with their evaluation. The analyses conducted led to the following main conclusions: – the conditionality regulation is an instrument that protects the budget and financial interests of the European Union – as such, however, it protects them from violations of the rule of law, and in this light, respect for the rule of law becomes the basis and prerequisite for effective implementation of the EU budget in accordance with the principle of sound financial management; – the regulation provides relatively clear criteria for the implementation of the budget protection procedure and a relatively clear procedure for the application of protection measures; – it can be concluded that the conditionality mechanism provided for in the regulation, when applied consistently and rigorously, is likely to strengthen the rule of law in EU member states – the case under review seems to confirm this thesis.