Rule of Law Report: Meaningful inclusion of civil society is key

Statement on the fourth European Commission's Rule of Law Report

Today, the European Commission issued its fourth Report on the Rule of Law. On this occasion, the EESC President and the Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group reassert the EESC's commitment to support the central role of civil society in that domain.  

Under the motto "Stand up for democracy - Speak up for Europe", I have made the defence of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law an overarching priority of my mandate as EESC President.

This means that I want to mainstream the defence of EU founding values in the work of the EESC in our  interactions with European institutions and civil society, international relations, but also all political initiatives, events, and publications.

For the EESC, it is also clear that the defence of the rule of law and related principles cannot be dissociated from a thriving civic space for all actors of civil society, including social partners and civil society organisations (CSOs). As house of the organised civil society, we will therefore continue offering a space for dialogue on key developments related to fundamental rights and the rule of law.

Our annual conference on the rule of law (7 November 2023) will allow stakeholders to discuss the 2023 Rule of Law Report as well as the EESC Report synthetising the main takeaways of the visits carried out by its FRRL Group in 2022. To us, this conference represents the basis for a more ambitious European civil society forum on fundamental rights and the rule of law, which we hope to develop with other EU institutions and civil society actors.

The mandate and means of our Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group will also be consolidated to increase its exchanges with national civil societies in EU Member States and accession countries. Its future country visits will pay a particular attention to the situation of civil society actors, including their capacity to act in defence of fundamental rights and the rule of law in conjunction with other public and private actors.

With these objectives in mind, it is the EESC's intention to play its full role in the development of a joint culture of the rule of law in Europe. The EESC has heard the demands by civil society: they want to be better involved in the rule of law mechanism preparation and follow-up, and they call for the further development and implementation of country-specific recommendations.

The EESC's objective is to continue working with the European Commission and other EU institutions to ensure that these demands are integrated in the rule of law mechanism, including through the consolidation of the national rule of law dialogues.

Oliver Röpke, President of the EESC

With the Presidency of the EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group
Paul Soete, President
Ozlem Yildirim, Vice-President
Christian Moos, Vice-President

Background

The EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group (FRRL group) was created in 2018 as a horizontal body within the European Economic and Social Committee. It was tasked with enhancing the contribution of organised civil society to strengthening fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law and responding to the shrinking civic space for civil society organisations. Its work is structured around an approach that covers areas that are considered particularly important and relevant to the work of the EESC: fundamental rights of social partners, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of the media, the right to non-discrimination, and the rule of law.

The EESC FRRL group's will hold its annual conference on Tuesday 7 November 2023. The event will provide a platform for debate of the European Commission's fourth Report on the Rule of Law (July 2023). It will gather EESC Members, civil society representatives (including social partners), EU institutions and other stakeholders to discuss the main developments in the EU in the area of fundamental rights and the rule of law over the past year. On the occasion of the conference, the FRRL Group will issue its third synthesis report covering the visits carried out in 2022.

The European Commission published its fourth annual Rule of Law Report on 5 July 2023. The Report includes an overview of the trends in the EU as a whole and 27 country chapters looking at developments in every Member State since July 2022. As in 2022, the report contains specific recommendations addressed to each Member State. The report examines developments in four key areas for the rule of law: justice systems, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and freedom, and other institutional issues linked to checks and balances.