The Commission's annual rule of law reports: Five years on (2020-2025)

The European Parliament had for many years been calling for the establishment of a rule of law review cycle engaging the Commission, Parliament and Council on the basis of an inter-institutional agreement, open to other EU institutions. Whereas such a formal agreement has to date not been concluded, the annual rule of law report mechanism, launched in 2020 by the Commission, partly fulfils Parliament's wishes. The annual rule of law reports have, from the outset, covered all the 27 EU Member States. Since 2024, they have also encompassed four candidate countries (Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia). Their subject matter covers four topical areas: i) the justice system, in particular judicial independence, as well as the prosecution service and other legal professions; ii) the anti-corruption framework; iii) media pluralism; and iv) institutional checks and balances, in particular a) ombudsman offices, b) non-governmental organisations, and c) regulation of lobbying. While a formally established rule of law cycle has not yet been put in place, Parliament's reactions to the Commission's annual reports – in the form of annual debates followed by own-initiative resolutions – have led to the establishment of what could effectively be described as an informal rule of law cycle, engaging the two institutions in a structured dialogue. Indeed, each year, starting from 2021, Parliament has adopted its own resolution on the Commission's rule of law report from the previous year. In those resolutions, Parliament has not only commented extensively on the Commission's findings and on the situation in specific Member States but has also provided the Commission with specific indications on how the reports should be developed, expanded and deepened. While some of Parliament's indications have been taken up by the Commission, others have not.