Brussels – The governments of five EU countries are “systematically and intentionally” undermining the rule of law. According to the definition adopted by Liberties, the Union for Civil Liberties in Europe, they are “dismantlers” of democratic standards in four key areas: justice, the fight against corruption, media freedom, and the balance of powers. In the report “Liberties Rule of Law 2026”, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Bulgaria are on the blacklist.
Drafted by an independent network of nearly 40 human rights organisations from 22 EU countries, the Seventh Annual Report paints a disturbing picture. In addition to the five “dismantlers”, which are “actively eroding the institutions of the rule of law,” it identifies a regression in six “traditionally robust” democracies: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Malta, and Sweden. And ten countries where there has been “no significant progress in either direction”: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.
The blacklist is the same as in the previous edition, except for Romania. Whilst Viktor Orbán’s Hungary “remains in a category of its own, continuing to pursue increasingly regressive laws and policies with no sign of change,” and Robert Fico’s “populist, authoritarian and pro-Moscow” government is chipping away at the rule of law in Slovakia, in Italy Giorgia Meloni’s government “has continued the path begun in 2022.” A government that ”
has been slowly eroding the rule of law and civic space,” reads the paragraph dedicated to Italy. The milestones, from the Almasri case to the spyware scandal targeting activists and journalists, from the standoff with judges over migrant centres in Albania, right up to the “culmination” with the Security Decree, passed into law in June 2025.
Throughout last year, “on the one hand, the Italian government managed to strengthen the institutions by reducing the liability of public officials and increasing safeguards, particularly for the police”, while on the other hand it stepped up “threats against dissenting voices, the violent suppression of demonstrations, the intensification of discriminatory policies towards ethnic minorities and migrants, harsh criminalisation of activists, and greowing political pressure on themagistrature.”
The report suggests that, if the European Commission were to acknowledge in its annual report on the rule of law the concerns highlighted in this independent report, “those elements would probably be sufficient” to trigger a procedure under Article 7, the sanction mechanism, which was activated against Hungary in 2018, for Member States that seriously and repeatedly violate the EU’s fundamental values. The same goes for triggering budget conditionality mechanisms, which the EU “could activate” against Rome “as a form of sanction to demand legal changes.” The report highlights that, at the end of 2025, Italy had 69 infringement proceedings pending.
According to Liberties, “many early signs of a progressive and severe erosion of
the civic space and the rule of law are precisely outlined by CSOs but overseen by the EU Commission and denied by the government.
” Brussels does not emerge unscathed from the report either, since, “during 2025, the EU institutions themselves
mirrored many of the issues seen in Member States: they normalised the use of exceptional, fast-track lawmaking, rolled back key fundamental rights protections, and led a concerted campaign against watchdog organisations.”
If “the EU’s credibility as the guardian and champion of the rule of law is further undermined by its own actions,” the consequence is that Member States are increasingly failing to follow the recommendations coming from Brussels. The EU “needs a stronger and more focused approach.
This should include systematic reporting, clear recommendations with measurable benchmarks, and consistent steps to trigger legal or other action when countries fail to comply,” said Kersty McCourt, senior advocacy advisor at the Civil Liberties Union for Europe. “Only then will the Rule of Law Report be able to function as the preventive tool it was originally intended to be,” she added. But above all, the political will to do so is needed. Even against the governments of Member States.
