Why has the annual EU Rule of Law Report not yet been published?
Since 2020, every year in early July, the European Commission usually publishes the annual Rule of Law Report, which examines Member States’ development in the field of justice on four specific axes: the judicial system, the anti-corruption legal framework, media pluralism and other institutional issues on checks and balances.
It is a separate initiative from the other EU rule of law instruments and complements, but does not replace, mechanisms established to promote and defend the rule of law, including peer reviews in the form of annual dialogues, the so-called “Article 7 procedures”, i.e. Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which establishes two procedures to safeguard the founding values of the EU, proceedings before the Court of Justice and measures to protect the EU budget.
The aim of this report is to monitor EU states’ measures to promote European values and uphold the implementation of EU law. This is also the first year in which the report contains country-specific recommendations, motivating deeper reforms and continued dialogue.
The report is the result of the European Commission’s dialogue with national authorities and stakeholders (such as civil society organisations, trade unions, journalists, etc.), and uses the same methodology to examine all Member States, structured around four pillars, in order to assess changes since the previous report.
Although the report has been criticised for questioning its general usefulness in preventing backsliding in the rule of law, as it does not devote a specific section to the protection of fundamental rights, it represents a relevant tool for monitoring European democracies.
This year, the European Commission’s next report on the rule of law, due to be published on 3 July 2024, has been delayed until September, apparently for political reasons. According to four officials, a Commission investigation highlights a crackdown on free media in Italy since far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni took office in 2022.
The decision to delay publication of the Report until after the planned vote in the European Parliament to elect the President of the European Commission is a further cause for concern.