Susana Sanz Caballero, Professor of Public International Law at CEU Cardenal Herrera University, examines the justiciability of Article 2 TEU in a new study published in the Revista General de Derecho Europeo, issue 70, October 2026.
The article, entitled “The justiciability of Article 2 TEU after the C-769/22 judgment, Commission v Hungary: a new milestone in the protection of the European Union’s values?”, examines the judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 21 April 2026. The case arose from Hungarian legislation adopted in 2021, which introduced restrictions on minors’ access to content relating to homosexuality and gender identity.
The key development in this judgment is that, for the first time in infringement proceedings, the Court found a self-standing breach of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union. The ruling confirms that the values enshrined in this provision, including human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, can independently provide grounds for finding that a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations.
The study explores the implications of this development for the protection of common values and the limits on invoking national identity to justify Member States’ actions. It also highlights that this route requires manifest and particularly serious breaches.
Susana Sanz Caballero also identifies aspects of the Court’s reasoning that could be improved, particularly its consideration of the best interests of the child and the development of its arguments from a human rights perspective.
The study forms part of the research projects on the rule of law crisis in the European Union and was written during a stay at the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania.
View the publication on Iustel:
https://www.iustel.com//v2/revistas/detalle_revista.asp?id_noticia=429735&texto=&popup=&popup=
Revista General de Derecho Europeo, no. 70, October 2026. ISSN: 1696-9634.
