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RESILIO-ACCESS Snapshots
25/02/2026

denhans / Photocase
denhans / Photocase

How resilient is the rule of law in EU accession countries to stress factors? Ten snapshots provide empirically based insights into key resilience resources, from judicial independence to the media and civil society.

The Snapshots are a series of ten comprehensive analyses on how to study the resilience of the rule of law in EU accession countries. Using concrete empirical examples from the candidate countries, they use the RESILIO-ACCESS model as an analytical framework to explain how the resilience of the rule of law can be measured. The Snapshots cover primary and subsidiary resilience resources.

Additionally, three of the ten Snapshots provide a cross-sectional conceptual background to study rule of law resilience, covering the influence of EU accession policy, the connection between threats and resilience, and positioning RESILIO-ACCESS in the dynamically developing field of research on democratic resilience.

By doing so, the Snapshots provide researchers with a comprehensive theoretical and empirical framework how to study the resilience of the rule of law. More information about the RESILIO-ACCESS model can be found here.

Conceptual background

Threats to Rule of Law Resilience (Mirchevska & Popovikj) (PDF 1,2 MB) EU Accession and Rule of Law Resilience (Nechev & Velinovska) (PDF 1,2 MB) Distinguishing Democratic Resilience and Rule of Law Resilience (Albrecht & Sendler) (PDF 1,7 MB)

Primary resilience resources

Judicial Independence and Expenditure (Gjuzelov) (PDF 1,3 MB) Fundamental Rights (Lutenco) (PDF 1,3 MB) Order and Security (Pejić Nikić) (PDF 1,3 MB) Legal Culture (Damjanovski) (PDF 1,3 MB) Anti-Corruption Policies (Huss) (PDF 1,3 MB)

Subsidiary resilience resources

Unbiased Media (Bino) (PDF 1,3 MB) Thriving Civil Society and Academic Freedom (Saris & López Domènech) (PDF 1,3 MB)

The event “Making Rule of Law Resilience Work in EU Enlargement,” held online on 12 March 2026, brought together four authors of the Snapshot series to discuss key findings on the resilience of the rule of law in EU accession countries.

Speakers included Borjan Gjuzelov, Jelena Pejić Nikić, Anamarija Velinovska, and Zoran Nechev, moderated by Daniel Hegedüs.

A recording of the event is available and can be accessed here:

Team & authors

York Albrecht
Research Associate
Person
Team
Constanze Sendler
Project Assistant
Person
Team

About the RESILIO-ACCESS: Resilience Observatory on the Rule of Law in EU Accession Candidates project: How resilient is the rule of law in the EU enlargement countries? RESILIO-ACCESS uses an interdisciplinary approach to answer this question and identifies how EU enlargement policy can contribute to resilient democratic structures in the region.

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Image copyright: denhans / Photocase