Commission Rule of Law Report: an indispensable but still perfectible instrument

Five years after its creation, the European Commission’s annual Rule of Law Report has become a cornerstone of the EU’s response to the serious challenges Member States face in the area of justice, media pluralism and freedom, anti-corruption, and checks and balances. The EESC president and the Fundamental Rights and Rule of Law (FRRL) Group presidency reiterate the EESC’s full backing for this tool, but also highlight potential improvements that could make it more inclusive and efficient.

In 2016, when the EESC first proposed setting up a European control mechanism on the rule of law and fundamental rights[1], it explained that it was ‘alarmed by the deterioration in human rights, the populist and authoritarian drift that is spreading and by the risk this poses to the quality of democracy and the protection of fundamental rights’. Eight years later, we could use the exact same words to describe today’s situation on our continent.

Since then, a number of tools have been developed to ensure the respect of the rule of law in all Member States. The EESC has been a staunch supporter of the development and improvement of such tools, known as the ‘rule of law toolbox’ (the Rule of Law Reports[2], the rule of law conditionality mechanism[3], etc.), and it has called for the EU to combine them in a strategic way to be able to halt degradations of fundamental rights and the rule of law wherever they develop.

The EESC has decided to take stock of the Rule of Law Reports to see if there is still room for further improvement in this instrument, for example by providing more specific and actionable recommendations, and a separate chapter on civic space, etc. The Committee will adopt its opinion in October[4].

In particular, we believe that it is important to improve the participation of civil society in the preparation of and follow-up to the reports. At the EESC, we are ideally placed to support the new Commission in that direction, as fostering inclusive debate on how to better defend fundamental rights and the rule of law is part of our vocation.

On the occasion of our 6 November annual conference, we will issue our report covering the first cycle of FRRL Group visits to all 27 EU Member States. Since 2018, our FRRL Group has interacted with more than 600 representatives of employers, workers, civil society organisations, media and legal professionals. After each visit, reports relaying the voice of national civil societies[5] have been published, providing a basis for inclusive and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders (civil society and authorities) at national and European levels.

That is a dynamic to be encouraged, and we hope that the new EU institutional cycle will be an opportunity for other EU actors to join us on that path.

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’s FRRL group will hold its fifth annual conference on Wednesday 6 November 2024. The event will provide a platform for debate on the European Commission’s fifth rule of law report, and the final report on the first cycle of FRRL Group country visits to all EU Member States between 2018 and 2024 (as well as the report on the 2023-2024 visits). EESC members, civil society representatives (including social partners), EU institutions and other stakeholders will discuss the main recent developments in the EU in the area of fundamental rights and the rule of law. Building on the dedicated EESC opinion (SOC/797), they will also share their evaluation of the EU response through the rule of law review mechanism.

The European Commission published its fifth annual Rule of Law Report on 24 July 2024. The report includes an overview of trends in the EU as a whole and 27 country-specific chapters looking at developments in each Member State since July 2023. As in 2022 and 2023, the report contains specific recommendations addressed to each Member State. It 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.