The third issue of the Rechtsstaat in Lectures-series, __The “Rule of Law” as a Requirement for Accession__ to the European Union describes the concept of the rule of law from a continental, in particular German, legal point of view and examines the basic elements and prerequisites of a state based on the rule of law. The lecture also illustrates the implications by the rule of law on state practice, and uses some examples from Romania in particular, as one of the two European countries which have most recently joined the European Union.*Serbian Version