The European Commission’s fifth annual report on the rule of law situation in the EU was released today. Below you will find a prompt reaction to the EC report and press conference. Please note that Liberties will publish a detailed gap analysis in September. Our top concerns are:

Commission vs. CSOs: Contrasting views.

There is a stark contrast between the Commission’s report and Liberties’ rule of law report regarding the overall evaluation and the evaluation of certain countries. For example, in the Commission's report, the assessment of France's rule of law record appears more positive than in the French CSOs' report, which shows little to no progress in all areas except for media freedom. Similarly, the Commission's view of Greece's progress contrasts with Greek CSOs' evaluation, which indicates little to no progress and regression in all areas of the rule of law.

Recommendations don’t add up

According to the EC press release “two thirds (68%) of the recommendations issued in 2023 have been, fully or partially, addressed”, however this seems to be an overly positive spin on the numbers and doesn’t differentiate between recommendations addressing technical versus systemic violations. According to our calculations, out of 137 recommendations from 2023 only 8 have been fully implemented, 18 saw significant progress while in the case of 41 recommendations (roughly 30%) no progress was made. Furthermore, there are glaring gaps between country evaluations and recommendations. Recommendations were omitted for significant rule of law issues, for example Slovakia’s deteriorating space for civil society, while some countries have conspicuously few recommendations.

The EC is wearing rose-tinted glasses

The EC’s interpretation of the CIVICUS data is too ‘rosy’. According to the 2024 data, 12 EU member states are classified as ‘open’, 12 as ‘narrowed’ and three as ‘obstructed’. The rule of law report concludes: “In the majority of Member States, an enabling and supportive framework for civil society exists, and the civil society space continues to be considered as ‘open’”. (p33)


Link between the rule of law report and other tools remains unclear

Despite a somewhat more detailed and better structured presentation of the use of other rule of law mechanisms, there is still no clear structure linking the rest of the rule of law toolbox to breaches identified in the report. Instead, the Commission continues to overemphasize the usefulness of dialogue as in intermediate tool to address rule of law decline. This is ‘magical thinking’ in the face of politicians who deliberately disregard rule of law safeguards and delay the use of more binding tools. While this might work for cooperative Member States, it suggests the Commission is in denial of the reality that not all governments are acting in good faith.

Balazs Denes, executive director at Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties), said:

“We see a few positive developments in the European Commission’s Rule of Law Report for 2024, specifically the promise to add the SME dimension to future reports and broadening the geographical scope with enlargement countries. In general, however, we find that the European Commission continues to shy away from unlocking the report’s full potential by presenting an overly optimistic view of the state of the rule of law and piecemeal enforcement measures. But despite emphasizing the longevity of rule of law monitoring, the Commission still lacks a clear and detailed roadmap to tackle rule of law breaches quickly and effectively. The overemphasis on dialogue to address deliberate and significant rule of law violations is wishful thinking and risks missing the window of opportunity to root out early warning signs before they become systemic. Where political will is lacking, a different approach is needed.”