The rule of law and democracy in the European Union (EU) are under great pressure. Indices measuring the rule of law show that attacks on it are on the rise. In the meantime, the EU has developed numerous instruments to defend the rule of law, but so far these have only been able to sanction, but not to prevent the dismantling of the rule of law. What both approaches have in common: they are more reactive than preventive. They can detect deterioration and sanction violations, but not anticipate them. In order to mitigate this shortcoming, we propose a new approach. It adds a preventive dimension to the debate on the rule of law in the EU: resilience. To this end, we identify factors that make the rule of law resilient to attacks and argue that this depends above all on its political, social and economic environment.
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