TY - JOUR N2 - This article contributes to the growing literature on Art. 7 TEU by showcasing the strong and weak points of this provision in the context of the on-going rule of law backsliding in Hungary and Poland – backsliding which threatens the very fabric of EU constitutionalism. The article presents the general context of the EU’s institutional reactions to the so-called “reforms” in Poland and Hungary, which are aimed at hijacking the state machinery by the political parties in charge. Next it introduces the background of Art. 7 TEU and the hopes the provision was endowed with by its drafters before moving on to analysis of its scope and all the mechanisms made available through this instrument, including the key procedural rules governing their use. The author posits that it may be necessary to put our hopes in alternative instruments and policies to combat the current rule of law backsliding, and the article concludes by outlining three possible scenarios to reverse the backsliding, none of which are (necessarily) connected with Art. 7 as such. L1 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/113126/PDF/a09_Kochenov.pdf L2 - http://journals.pan.pl/Content/113126 PY - 2018 EP - 187 DO - 10.24425/pyil.2019.129611 KW - Rule of Law KW - backsliding KW - EU values KW - Article 7 A1 - Kochenov, Dimitry PB - Institute of Law Studies PAS PB - Committee on Legal Sciences PAS VL - No XXXVIII DA - 2019.09.30 T1 - Article 7 TEU: A Commentary on a Much Talked-about “Dead” Provision SP - 165 UR - http://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/113126 T2 - Polish Yearbook of International Law ER -