The Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law report
TA-10-2026-0147 · P10_TA(2026)0147 · PE779.664
- Adopted in plenary on · Adopted 387–191–46 · See the decision →
- Full procedure 2025/2239
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.
Parliament's resolution on the Commission's 2025 Rule of Law report assesses the state of the rule of law in the EU and calls for stronger enforcement, better monitoring, and protection of fundamental rights.¶¶ It urges the Commission to improve its reporting methodology, issue more targeted recommendations, and strengthen links between rule-of-law compliance and EU funding.¶¶¶ It calls on member states to ensure judicial independence, fight corruption, protect journalists and civil society, and uphold fundamental rights, including for minorities and LGBTIQ+ persons.¶¶¶ It demands that the Council make progress on Article 7 procedures and that the EU institutions themselves be subject to rule-of-law scrutiny.¶¶¶
Key points
- Calls on member states, candidate and potential candidate countries to ensure independent, efficient and impartial judicial systems and access to free legal aid.¶
- Urges member states to implement pending CJEU and ECtHR judgments promptly and suggests establishing a monitoring unit and public scoreboard.¶
- Calls for the EU to join GRECO and for the Commission to negotiate full membership, ensuring EU institutions are subject to external anti-corruption scrutiny.¶¶
- Urges member states to fully implement the Directive on combating corruption and to strengthen preventive measures, including independent anti-corruption bodies.¶¶
- Condemns surveillance of journalists, including spyware, and calls for safeguards and enforcement of EU law.¶¶
- Calls for protection of media pluralism, implementation of the European Media Freedom Act, and measures against SLAPPs.¶¶¶
- Urges member states to protect civil society space, freedom of assembly, and human rights defenders, and to avoid disproportionate restrictions.¶¶¶
- Calls for action against discrimination, including antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate crime, and for extending EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime.¶¶¶
- Demands that EU funds be conditional on rule-of-law compliance and that payments be suspended when deficiencies persist.¶¶¶
- Calls for the rule of law to be applied consistently in enlargement and external action, with rigorous monitoring of candidate countries.¶¶
- Urges the Commission to improve its reporting methodology, including clear benchmarks, and to issue more operational and targeted recommendations.¶¶
- Calls on the Council to make Article 7 hearings more frequent and transparent, and to ensure meaningful progress.¶¶
Who is affected
- Member states, candidate and potential candidate countries must implement judicial, anti-corruption and media reforms.¶¶
- Journalists and media professionals are to be protected from surveillance, SLAPPs and political interference.¶¶
- Civil society organisations and human rights defenders should receive protection and sustainable funding.¶¶
- LGBTIQ+ persons, minorities and other vulnerable groups are to be protected from discrimination and hate crime.¶¶
- EU institutions, including the Commission and Council, are called on to subject themselves to rule-of-law scrutiny.¶¶
Figures and deadlines
- 69 % of Eurobarometer respondents consider corruption widespread in their country.¶
- 93 % of the Commission's 2025 recommendations are repetitions from previous years; only 6 % fully implemented.¶¶
- As of 1 January 2025, 650 leading ECtHR judgments remained pending implementation in EU member states.¶
- 45.7 % of leading ECtHR judgments over the past 10 years are still pending implementation.
- Average implementation time for leading ECtHR judgments reached 5 years and 4 months by end of 2024.
Legal basis: Articles 2, 3(1), 3(3), 4(3), 5, 6, 7, 11, 19 and 49 TEU; Articles 70, 258, 259, 260, 263, 265 and 267 TFEU¶¶