EESC Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law Group concludes a visit to the Czech Republic

Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law

On 5-6 May 2026, the Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) concluded a two-day visit to Prague. 

This visit formed part of the second cycle of FRRL Group country visits (2024-2029), following the first cycle (2018-2024). The methodology of the Group combines exchanges with civil society, national authorities, and representatives of the European Commission, ensuring that all relevant perspectives are heard.

This visit gave the opportunity to the group of six EESC Members to hear civil society representatives about key trends in Czechia concerning fundamental rights of social partners, freedoms of association and assembly, freedom of expression (including media freedom), the right to non-discrimination, and the rule of law.

Participants in the discussions particularly highlighted:

  • The high standard of tripartite dialogue, despite challenges to effective consultation of trade unions and differing perspectives among social partners on the implementation of EU labour Directives.
  • A perceived shift from partnership to confrontation between civil society and authorities, including the labelling of some CSOs as 'political', their association with lobbying, and plans for restrictive legislation on foreign funding.
  • Risks to media freedom despite a still high ranking in international indexes, illustrated by the proposed shift from licence fee to State funding of Public Service Media, the spread of news deserts, and growing disinformation, underlying the urgency of implementing the EMFA and DSA.
  • Greater openness to anti-discrimination issues among the Czech public than among politicians, with laws and institutions in place, examples of some positive changes, but also an increasingly restrictive environment marked by negative rhetoric and funding concerns.
  • A strong level of trust in judicial independence and institutional self-correction, alongside challenges including insufficient funding for legal aid, delays in judicial digitalisation, increased use of expedited parliamentary procedures, and ongoing conflicts of interest in politics.

This was the second visit to Czechia, after a visit on 30 September and 1st October 2021 as part of the first cycle of country visits.

The EESC delegation also discussed with the Delegation of the European Union and the authorities of the Czech Republic. 

A report, including the observations of the Czech authorities, will be issued in the coming months and will be presented in the EESC.

The delegation of the FRRL Group to Czechia was composed of: 

Background

The EESC established in 2018 a Group on Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law (FRRL Group), which is tasked to provide a forum for European civil society organisations to meet and discuss fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law. The FRRL Group promotes respect for the European values listed in Article 2 TEU by raising awareness of and assessing the state of play of these values in the Member States and allowing for the exchange of good practices. To this end, the FRRL Group hosts hearings, conferences, and carries out country visits with the aim of identifying trends in Europe concerning fundamental rights and the rule of law, inasmuch as they develop in national contexts. 

Country visit reports are issued along with the observations of the authorities, a few months after the visits (they can be accessed here). After a first cycle of visit to all EU Member States (2018-2024), the FRRL Group started a second cycle of visits in 2024 to the 27 Member States and candidate countries. The Report synthesising the first cycle of country visits led in 2018-2019,  2020-2021, 2022, and 2023-2024 are available, as is the report on the overall first cycle (2018-2024).

For more information about the EESC FRRL Group methodology, see this document.