The courts, press freedom, and civic space remain under pressure in the EU, while, moreover, corruption, spyware, and attacks on journalists require a firmer response, said the European Parliament on Wednesday 29 April in its report on the annual review of the Rule of law in the EU, approved by 387 votes to 191 with 46 abstentions.
On the same day, Parliament adopted another report on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU in 2024 and 2025, marked in particular by references to attacks on migrants and pushbacks carried out by certain countries, and by the shrinking space left to civil society organisations.
This second report was adopted by 328 votes to 199 with 98 abstentions.
The report on the Commission’s annual report on the Rule of law points out that 93% of the Commission’s recommendations had already been made in previous years.
The independence of the judiciary, anti-corruption frameworks, freedom of the press, civic space, equality, and the balance of power remain under threat, while the annual monitoring still underestimates serious structural threats, says Parliament in a press release.
In particular, the report warns against excessive political influence on judicial appointments, disciplinary commissions, promotions, and the allocation of cases. MEPs call on the Member States “to guarantee the structural independence of judicial systems, their effectiveness and impartiality, and to provide them with adequate resources, free legal aid and guarantees against political pressure”.
In the second report, which often intersects with the findings of the first, the elected representatives stress that the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights must be respected in all European policies and fully implemented by the Member States.
The MEPs are concerned about violations of fundamental rights, democratic backsliding, political interference in the judicial system, the shrinking of civic space, threats to press freedom and the safety of journalists, and attacks on women’s rights and LGBTQI+ equality, all of which undermine the values upheld by the EU.
Among other things, they are calling for sustainable European funding for these civil society organisations.
At a press briefing in the morning, rapporteur Anna Strolenberg (Greens/EFA, Dutch) cited “major setbacks” for women’s rights over the past two years, “particularly online”, referring to the Grok application, for example. With regard to LGBTIQ+ people, she said that she hoped for a major breakthrough in Hungary with the arrival of Peter Magyar in office and the possibility of reopening a space for civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community.
Link to reports: https://aeur.eu/f/lr3 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)