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Liberties’ Gap Analysis is part of the cycle of oversight by Liberties of the European Commission’s Annual Rule of Law Report. The Gap Analysis aims to propose concrete recommendations to strengthen the report’s role as a preventive tool to uphold the rule of law across the Unions. The foundation of the Gap Analysis is built on findings from Liberties’ Rule of Law Report (in 2025: contributed by 43 NGOs across 21 countries) and feedback from Liberties network members and partner organisations.
The overall goal is to remind us that democracy and the rule of law are not abstract or distant concepts. When EU governments ignore rule of law backsliding - without consequence - it affects our daily lives. From the inability to access independent courts and free media, to the closing of civil society and the rise of authoritarian tendencies - when rule of law breaches go unchecked, we all pay the price.
Is the Rule of Law Report a real preventive tool?
This is Liberties’ third Gap Analysis (previous analyses were published in 2023 and 2024). With a new Commission in place since December 2024, expectations were high around improvements to the rule of law cycle. One change would be to link recommendations in the Rule of Law Report to the EU budget - and steps in this direction were set out in the Commission’s Communication on the 2028-2034 Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF).
However, for this to be effective, the Rule of Law Reports will need to ensure that the most pressing issues are addressed and recommendations are targeted, time-bound and followed up. Unfortunately, this year’s report doesn’t yet indicate a clear change. Many Liberties’ members felt that the analysis in key areas was even less comprehensive, with key issues neglected and no consequences for non-compliance with recommendations.
To fully understand the issues, Liberties examined over 500 recommendations issued by the Commission from 2022 to 2025, looked at two country case studies on Italy and Slovakia, one case study focused on media freedom, and existing trends and patterns within the Commission's reporting process.
The Commission’s reporting process needs reform
The 2025 Gap Analysis shows that the way the Commission issues and tracks the progress of recommendations has significant deficiencies. Imprecise and repetitive recommendations are a major problem. In 2025, 93% of all recommendations were repeated from previous years, often without any changes in wording, while the number of new recommendations was cut in half compared to 2024. The low number of new recommendations highlights another negative trend: the omission of serious emerging issues. Case studies on Italy and Slovakia show that serious developments, including attacks on the judiciary, NGOs, and media, are sometimes omitted entirely. By leaving these issues out, the report provides an incomplete picture, reducing its effectiveness as a preventive tool.
Another problem concerns the Commission’s approach to assessing the implementation of recommendations by Member States, which lacks clear and transparent criteria. This has led to a pattern of arbitrary removal of certain recommendations, further weakening accountability and making it difficult to track real progress over time.
The 2025 Gap Analysis provides concrete recommendations to address each of these problems. From improving the clarity and specificity of recommendations to establishing transparent assessment methods and expanding issue coverage, the proposed solutions are designed to help the Commission strengthen its reporting process.
Member States persistently ignore recommendations
The 2025 Gap Analysis reveals a persistent trend of Member States ignoring the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations. Data shows that the share of ‘fully implemented’ recommendations dropped by nearly half, from 11% in 2023 to 6% in 2024-2025. Furthermore, some Member States have consistently failed to implement their recommendations or made little to no progress since 2022. These include, for instance, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
This indicates that the Annual Rule of Law Report risks becoming a symbolic monitoring exercise rather than a real tool to protect the rule of law and fundamental rights. The main recommendation to tackle persistent non-compliance is to strengthen enforcement mechanisms, including infringement proceedings and budget conditionality, ensuring that they are applied in a regular and timely manner.
The Commission’s moment to take action
The new Commission has shown positive steps towards strengthening the Rule of Law Report cycle - through laying out plans on budget conditionality and regularly affirming the non-negotiability of the rule of law and fundamental rights. We hope that our findings and recommendations in the 2025 Gap Analysis provide some practical insights, and both short and medium-term suggestions for change. Without rapid action, we fear the backsliding will escalate and changes will become very difficult to reverse.
Read the full 2025 Gap Analysis for detailed data and case studies here.
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