During the last decade, it has become apparent that the European Union (EU) Commission is failing to halt rule of law decline in Poland and Hungary. However, has the Commission learnt from its experience in handling rule of law decline in these countries? This article suggests that not only has the EU Commission failed to learn the importance of swift action in the face of burgeoning rule of law crises but has actively ignored similar systemic issues altogether in Lithuania, a country that has historically been an exemplary Member State. This article will analyse the status of the rule of law and judicial independence in Lithuania in light of the EU Commission's first two Rule of Law Reports published in September 2020 and July 2021. These reports were designed to act as a preventative measure to protect the rule of law in each Member State through documenting and raising awareness for rule of law developments in the Union. Lithuania has largely slipped under the radar of constitutional democracy scholars; however, in the past two years, Lithuania has endured a series of attacks on judicial independence and suffered an attempted siege of its national broadcaster. There has been an intense deadlock recently over the election of Constitutional Court justices, which has raised concerns over the executive's persistent attempts to politicise Lithuania's highest court. Worryingly the recent Rule of Law Reports, published by the EU Commission, fail to reflect the severity of these recent developments. The reports' silence on these issues leads this article to conclude that the EU Commission is turning a blind eye to Lithuania's precarious rule of law situation by failing to truthfully document significant negative developments around the rule of law. By doing so, the Commission not only exacerbates rule of law issues domestically but also undermines the fight against rule of law backsliding in the Union.

Keywords: European Commission; European Union; Judicial independence; Lithuania; Rule of law.

© T.M.C. Asser Press 2022.

在过去十年中，很明显欧盟委员会未能阻止波兰和匈牙利的法治衰落。然而，欧盟委员会是否从处理这些国家法治衰落的经验中学到了教训？本文认为，欧盟委员会不仅没有认识到面对日益严重的法治危机时迅速行动的重要性，而且还完全忽视了立陶宛类似系统性问题的存在，而立陶宛历史上一直是一个模范成员国。本文将分析在欧盟委员会于2020年9月和2021年7月发布的前两份《法治报告》背景下立陶宛的法治状况和司法独立情况。这些报告旨在作为预防措施来保护每个成员国的法治，通过记录并提高人们对联盟内法治发展重要性的认识。立陶宛长期以来一直被宪法民主学者忽视；然而，在过去两年中，立陶宛遭受了一系列对司法独立的攻击，并且国家广播公司遭到了企图占领的行为。最近在宪法法院法官选举方面的僵局引发了人们对于行政部门试图将最高法院政治化的持续努力的关注。令人担忧的是，欧盟委员会发布的最新《法治报告》未能反映出这些近期事态发展的严重性。报告对此问题保持沉默使得本文得出结论：欧盟委员会通过不真实记录重要的负面发展来对立陶宛脆弱的法治状况视而不见，从而加剧了国内的法治问题，并且削弱了在联盟内部反对法治倒退的努力。

关键词: 欧洲委员会；欧洲联盟；司法独立；立陶宛；法治。