Press statement on the release of the 2022 Rule of Law Report

18/07/2022

On 13 July 2022, the European Commission published the third annual Rule of Law Report. In RESILIO's press statement, Maria Skóra assesses the positive and negative developments.

Dr Maria Skóra - Research Associate/Lead Researcher RESILIO, Expertise: Rule of law, Democracy, Poland, Hungary

The 2022 Rule of Law Report flags significant improvements. However, in some member states reasons for concern emerge in the areas of judicial independence, freedom of the media and "shrinking spaces" for civil society.
The new conditionality mechanism for the protection of the EU budget opens up pathways to effectively curbing the rule of law regression.
Fundamental principles of the EU must not be compromised for pragmatic political goals.

The following can be concluded from the 2022 Rule of Law Report: The EU should further refine the existing rule of law toolkit in technical terms. Yet, it is equally important to create a favourable political environment that facilitates the protection of the rule of law framework in each member state. The use of leverage in the event of violations of the rule of law is essential in this regard. The new conditionality mechanism for the protection of the EU budget has the potential to become a useful tool for that purpose.

It is extremely important to take decisive action today against violations of the rule of law. The future of the EU in terms of internal cohesion as well as external credibility depends on it.