Disciplining Through The Glass: A Panoptic Interpretation of Article 7 in the Rule-of-Law Crises of Poland and Hungary

Details

Supervisors

Duez, Denis

Faculty

Faculté des sciences économiques, sociales, politiques et de communication

Degree label

Master [120] en études européennes, à finalité spécialisée: gouvernance et sociétés européennes

Abstract

enThis thesis examines how the European Union (EU) employs disciplinary mechanisms through the lens of panopticism, influenced by Michel Foucault and Jeremy Bentham. It argues that the EU exerts power over Member States not just through legal enforcement, but via surveillance, reputational pressure, and behavior normalization. Focusing on the sanctioning process under Article 7 TEU and the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, the study compares Poland and Hungary, illustrating that while the EU aims to function as a panoptic structure, the effectiveness of its governance is limited when sanctions are not seen as credible. Ultimately, the thesis concludes that the EU's reluctance to impose strong sanctions undermines the internalization of norms and reflects on the conditions that enable successful behavioral guidance among Member States.