Abstract: The Rule of Law and the human rights protection are two of the founding principles of a democratic society, shared by European states and protected by the European Union and the Council of Europe. Recent evolutions in political life of member states from the East show a trend to neglect the Rule of Law, which induces a negative impact on the protection of fundamental rights in these countries. The European Law has some legal instruments to compel member states to respect the Rule of Law principle within their territory. This article tries to tackle the efficiency of these instruments against the interests of governing political parties in Eastern member countries.       

Keywords: Rule of Law; human rights; European Law; European Union; Council of Europe; Eastern Europe.