The 'Liberties Rule of Law Report 2026', prepared by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, reveals a worrying decline in democracy and the rule of law across large parts of the European Union and, increasingly, within European institutions themselves.

The report, a collaboration of nearly 40 rights groups from 22 EU countries coordinated by Liberties, assessed how well governments respected the rule of law over the previous year by documenting their efforts across four thematic areas: justice, corruption, media freedom, and checks and balances.

The report notes that democracy is still in decline and Member States are not compelled to act on the European Commission's recommendations.

The countries that most undermine the rule of law, according to the report, are Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia, classified as 'Dismantlers'.

These countries, the report says, are actively eroding rule-of-law institutions, with four of them showing no change from the previous year.

Hungary, under Viktor Orbán's government, 'remains in a category of its own', continuing to pursue increasingly regressive laws and policies, without any sign of change.

Ten countries remained stuck in the 'Stagnator' category, with no significant progress: Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.

Latvia was the only country designated as a 'Hard Worker'.

The report focused on the scale of repeated and unimplemented recommendations from the European Commission, which began its 'Rule of Law Reports' in 2020 in response to democratic backsliding.

Liberties' analysis revealed a widening implementation gap, where 93% of all 2025 European Commission recommendations were repetitions from previous years.

Of 100 Commission recommendations assessed by Liberties, 61% showed no visible signs of progress, 13% were deemed to be backsliding, and no recommendations were found to have been fully implemented.

The report warns that, in the six years that have followed, the EU's Rule of Law reports have largely failed in this objective, deepening the challenges within its own institutions.

EU institutions themselves mirrored many of the issues seen in Member States: they normalized the use of exceptional, fast-track lawmaking, rolled back key fundamental rights protections, and led a concerted campaign against watchdog organizations.

The report highlights the urgent need to address democratic decline and the rule of law in Europe.

The lack of compliance with the European Commission's recommendations and the stagnation in improving the situation are a cause for great concern.