- Checks and balances weakened by emergency fast-track legislation
- Justice systems under growing political pressure through smears, under-finance
- Climate, pro-Palestine protests widely restricted, intimidated by excessive police force
Due to governments’ neglect or deliberate dismantling, democracies in the EU were further weakened in 2024, according to the Liberties Rule Of Law Report 2025. In its sixth edition since 2019, the 600-page report identifies the most striking infringements of justice, corruption, media freedom, checks and balances, civic space and human rights in the European Union (EU) in 2024. The comprehensive analysis, a collaboration of 43 human rights organisations from 21 EU countries coordinated by the Civil Liberties Union For Europe (Liberties), is the most in-depth 'shadow reporting' exercise on the rule of law to date by an independent civil liberties network. The report findings feed into the rule of law monitoring cycle of the European Commission (EC), and contributing organisations present local insights during this year’s country visits.
Key Country-cohort Insights
- “Worst Performer”: In Hungary, already the worst performer for years, significant regression was detected across the board including renewed campaigns by the “hybrid regime” against judicial independence, civil society organisations, public participation and media freedom.
- “Dismantlers”: Governments of Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia systematically, intentionally undermine the rule of law in nearly all aspects.
- “Sliders”: Role-model democracies like Belgium, France, Germany, or Sweden demonstrated isolated but still troubling decline in a few dimensions risking lower standards will be followed by more.
- “Maintainers”: Greece, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, and Spain stagnate or made only minimal progress in their rule of law indicators.
- “Hard Workers”: Estonia and the Czech Republic show signs of genuine and systemic efforts of improvement highlighting the successful role of civil society in achieving positive change.
- “The Cautionary Tale”: Poland, where the new government has attempted to restore judicial independence and media pluralism without major progress, illustrates that addressing the compromised independence of institutions is an extremely challenging and fragile endeavor.
The full report can be downloaded here. The report on Poland is available here.
