RULE OF LAW

Rule of Law and Security: Two sides of the same coin?

Rule of Law and Security - was the main topic of a debate moderated by David Henneberger, Director of the FNF Madrid Office, which brought together high-level speakers such as Sonia Alda Mejías, Researcher and Director of the Observatory of Illicit Trafficking and Criminal Networks of the Elcano Royal Institute; Andrea García Rodríguez, Researcher at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) and Sebastian Vagt, Director of the FNF Morocco and Algeria Office.

The rule of law is one of the fundamental pillars for achieving economic development and guaranteeing the defense of human rights. However, we are aware that this premise is not always evident and that the link between the rule of law and security continues to generate some skepticism, added by the disruptive effects of emerging technologies that are changing the security sector. This situation leads us to question what the challenges and opportunities the Mediterranean region is facing in this regard.

Is the political will to intensify security cooperation, as expressed by EU Member States in the New Agenda for the Mediterranean, be sufficient?

These questions and much more have been examined carefully by our expert panel in a debate inspired by the publication "Security in the framework of the Rule of Law", coordinated by the Elcano Royal Instituto with the collaboration of the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation. The debate was attended by one of the editors of the publication, Sonia Alda Mejías, and the authors of the chapter "Challenges to Security and the Rule of Law in the EU", David Henneberger and Sebastian Vagt. The article is available in English and can be downloaded here.

If you want to know more, make sure to watch the video on our YouTube channel MD GO – by Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation. The debate was in English and Spanish; the video has English subtitles (for the Spanish audio).