Civil society recommendations: how the Commission can improve the credibility, inclusiveness and impact of the Rule of Law Report - September 2021

The EU rule of law report is an important step towards strengthening the foundational values of the Union – respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights. To this end, many civil society and media organisations, as well as journalists and human rights defenders, have put significant resources into quality submissions to the public consultation and coordination regarding input and follow-up. All of them recognised the great importance of the Commission’s work and have made these submissions with a view to assisting the Commission in its critical missions. Yet among them, there is a widespread sense that some of these efforts are fruitless and in vain. We have therefore come together to issue a set of recommendations ahead of the next reporting cycle, to improve the credibility, inclusiveness and impact of the report.