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What a month it’s been. After months of preparations with our member and partner organisations, Liberties published our flagship rule of law report. Compared to other years, our Rule of Law Report 2025 provoked more antagonism than usual, with governments bristling that their countries were labelled ‘sliders’ or ‘dismantlers’.
We can’t help but be pleased to see our report make waves. Seeing politicians questioned by journalists about why their democratic standards are falling short is exactly the response we set out to generate. Hopefully the boost in attention will translate to governments tackling rule of law issues.
And if you’re wondering why the rule of law is so important, look no further than Romania’s electoral dysfunction and Hungary’s use of surveillance technology to ban pride protests. When the rule of law is dismantled, it erodes the democratic foundation that supports our way of life. Whether we want a society that celebrates love in all its forms or provides a safety net when people fall on hard times, democracy gives us the power to make the decisions that affect us.
In focus
Rule of Law Report
Democratic Race to The Bottom But Some Shoots of Hope
In case you’ve been living under a rock (and honestly, I don’t blame you), you’ll know that Europe is in a democratic recession.
The rule of law as an intangible concept can be a bit difficult to wrap your head around. To help you, we’ve broken it down into bite-sized thematic summaries (just in case you don’t manage to read all 1,000 pages of our report).
2024 was a year of significant political changes across Europe, leading to escalating threats against media freedom and pluralism in many EU Member States.
- Checks & Balances: Governments Cut Corners to Avoid Accountability, Steamrolling Checks and Balances
When it came to checks and balances, our research revealed a worrying trend — across the EU, Member States both neglected to protect and actively stifled the accountability mechanisms needed for strong democracies.
The Liberties 2025 Rule of Law report reveals that in 2024, restrictions on civic space either persisted or worsened.
Trust in government and its institutions is crucial for a healthy democracy, as citizens must be able to rely on their elected officials and public leaders to act in their best interests while in power.
Liberties’ Rule of Law Report 2025 trend analysis on human rights violations in 2024 in the EU.
Report in the news
International
The Guardian: Italy one of five ‘dismantlers’ causing ‘democratic recession’ in Europe, report says
Euronews: Rule of law deteriorates across the EU, report finds
EUObserver: Who's up and who's down in Liberties annual EU rule-of-law report
Find your country: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden
Rule of Law Report Webinars
- Webinar for Italian NGOs by CILD, April 2 RSVP
- Webinar for French NGOs by VoxPopuli, April 8 RSVP
A Critical Look at the DSA’s First Risk Assessments: Civic Discourse and Electoral Processes
Read our initial analysis on the first round of risk assessments under the EU Digital Services Act. Read it here.
Network Corner
- Award season: Xnet, one of our Spanish members, launches the 4D Awards Digital Rights by Design, awarding two Grants of €15,000 for democratic digitalisation projects of any kind. Call open till 18th May 2025. More information here.
- Exposing crime and corruption: Since its launch last month, Amphora Media, the non-profit investigative journalism platform founded by our Maltese member, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, has collaborated with partners in Malta and internationally, uncovering a scam network that targeted victims worldwide, illegal transnational betting operations, and multi-million suspicious transactions involving public sector contracts. Amphora Media aims to expose more stories and collaborate with other partners. Pick up the stories at Amphora Media or subscribe to the free newsletter. Migration monitoring: Our Bulgarian member, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, published their report in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency, assessing the determination process for asylum and international protection. Read it here and subscribe to their English-language newsletter for regular updates on their work.
- Getting to know our members: PILP, one of our Dutch members, joined Liberties’ team call to let us know what they’ve been getting up to. Want to know more? Get reacquainted with our Meet Our Members blog.
- Major changes to the VoxPublic team: Liberties’ French member VoxPublic’s former national delegate Jean-Marie Fardeau has been succeeded by Erika Campelo. Wishing Jean-Marie a happy retirement and a big congratulations to Erika! Learn more.
- Protest is a human right: Our German member GFF describes the criminal charges against Letzte Generation as a constitutional scandal. Read more.
- Protect the pride: ICCL, our Irish member, published an op-ed about facial recognition technology being used to suppress LGBTI+ people in Hungary. Read it here.
What we’re reading
- AI: Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI - The Atlantic
- Corruption:
- Huawei targeted in new European Parliament corruption probe - Follow The Money
- Three billionaires: America’s oligarchy is now fully exposed- The Guardian
- Media Freedom:
And speaking of press under pressure, our next groundbreaking report of the year will hit in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
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