Strengthening democracy and the rule of law

Strengthening and safeguarding European democracy

Europe is a beacon of democracy in the world, but democracy also has its challenges and enemies. Authoritarian regimes try to undermine our values, and our free and open societies. By spreading disinformation, such actors want to fuel societal division and risk distorting our election campaigns.

European Democracy Action Plan 

To counter those actions, in 2020 the Commission came forward with the European Democracy Action Plan, setting out several initiatives to promote free and fair elections, strengthen media freedom and fight disinformation.

As announced in the Democracy Action Plan, in September 2021 the Commission presented a recommendation with guidance for Member States to take effective measures to ensure the protection, safety and empowerment of journalists.

Another deliverable of the Democracy Action Plan are the new laws on political advertising, electoral rights and party funding, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in March 2024. When the Regulation enters into force, political ads will have to be labelled as such and will have to include a clear reference to who is paying for them. In terms of fighting disinformation, in 2022 the Code of Practice against disinformation was further strengthened. Together with the Digital Services Act, the EU Cybersecurity strategy and the Cyber Resilience Act, this is an essential part of the Commission's toolbox for fighting the spread of disinformation in the EU.

Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation

As a response to the rise of Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation, the Commission presented an initiative to protect journalists and human rights defenders. The Anti-SLAPP initiative is a solid combination of legislation by way of a Directive that entered into force in May 2024, and non-legislative measures in the form of a Recommendation to provide best possible protection to EU journalists and human rights defenders.

Defence of Democracy package

We have set out measures and rules that put the Democracy Action Plan into practice. For example, with the Defence of Democracy package adopted in December 2023, the Commission proposed new rules to enhance transparency and democratic accountability by setting out transparency requirements for representatives of foreign interests that want to influence policymaking. The package also includes recommendations to promote free, fair, and resilient elections, and to protect them from cyberattacks or other efforts to manipulate our democratic environment. The package also proposes new mechanisms to better ingrain civic engagement and citizen’s participation in political life at a national level.

Digital Services Act (DSA)

Ahead of the European elections of June 2024, and being aware of the important role of online platforms, the Commission published specific guidance for Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines designated under the Digital Services Act (DSA) to promote mitigation measures and best practices that strengthen the resilience of our electoral processes.

Ethics Body

Furthermore, in order to protect the integrity of the EU institutions, the Commission proposed the creation of an Ethics Body covering all EU institutions, on which an agreement was signed in April 2024. Any ethical wrongdoing concerning high-ranking representatives of EU institutions affects the trust and credibility of the whole Union. That is why the Commission believes that it is fundamental to have a common Ethics Body that sets standards on ethics for all institutions and ensures regular coordination between them.

With the European Media Freedom Act, which is also a part of the European Democracy Action Plan and adopted in April 2024, the Commission laid out for the first time a set of common safeguards to protect media freedom and pluralism in Europe.

Once in application, the new rules will:

• better protect editorial independence and media pluralism
• ensure the independent functioning of public service media
• lead to better cooperation of media authorities through a new European Board for Media Services
• ensure that media can operate more easily across borders in the EU, taking into account the digital transformation of the media space
• protect journalists to perform their job freely and safely, thanks to safeguards like the ban on the use of spyware against journalists and their families

Furthermore, in September 2021, the Commission adopted a Recommendation on ensuring the protection, safety and empowerment of journalists and other media professionals in the European Union. The Commission is working with Member States to ensure its correct implementation, which is also monitored in the context of the Rule of Law Reports.

Member States generally have high rule of law standards, however there are important challenges that vary from one Member State to another.

Rule of Law Report

During this mandate, the Commission developed its annual Rule of Law Report, a powerful tool to protect the rule of law in all Member States through dialogue and exchange of information. Since 2022, the Report gives concrete recommendations to Member States on how to strengthen the rule of law nationally, prompting a positive dynamic. For instance, two-thirds of the 2023 Report recommendations have been fully or partially addressed.

Moreover, since 2024 the Rule of Law Report also looks at rule of law developments in countries that are the most advanced in their enlargement process, notably Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

Additionally, the EU now has powers to withhold EU funds under other mechanisms if the principles of the rule of law are breached: 

• The Budget Conditionality Regulation, for example, allows the suspension of payments or financial corrections in cases in which the principles of the rule of law are not being upheld in a Member State, with consequences on the EU’s budget. This regulation was activated for Hungary: following a Commission proposal in December 2022, the Council suspended 55% of commitments under three Cohesion Policy programmes, amounting to €6.3 billion for the period 2021-2027.
• To access EU cohesion funds, Member States must fulfil the horizontal enabling conditions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
• Recovery and resilience plans under NextGenerationEU may include milestones on strengthening judicial independence and other aspects related to the rule of law, which the Member State concerned will have to implement in order to receive a full payment.

The use of these tools has been proven effective:

• Hungary has engaged with the Commission to address deficiencies as regards judicial independence under the horizontal enabling conditions, and it has adopted reforms to strengthen the independence of its judiciary.
• Poland has launched reforms in an effort to fulfil the milestones under its recovery and resilience plan on the disciplinary regime for judges.

Infringement procedures

Similarly, the Commission has started infringement procedures to protect the rule of law and EU values:

• The Commission started several infringement proceedings against Hungary in relation to different issues, such as the principles of democracy (i.e. the right of EU citizens to participate in the democratic life of the EU), and fundamental rights (i.e. the right to freedom of expression and information and the rights of LGBTIQ people).
• Following an infringement procedure, Poland abolished its Disciplinary Chamber which undermined the judicial independence of Polish judges. This was a positive step towards protecting judges from political control. Further exchanges are ongoing.
• In the context of another infringement procedure, the Court of Justice ordered Poland to immediately suspend a law affecting the independence of Polish judges. As Poland did not comply with the order, the Court imposed financial penalties on Poland. Poland had to pay €556.5 million in the form of offsets from funds they were meant to receive via EU instruments.
• The Commission also started infringement procedures against Cyprus and Malta over schemes that grant EU citizenship to certain types of investors. These breach the principle of sincere cooperation and the concept of EU citizenship. As a result, Cyprus paused its scheme, while Malta has been referred to the Court of Justice.

The Commission engaged enthusiastically in the Conference on the Future of Europe, which ran from April 2021 to May 2022, and was an innovative exercise to strengthen European democracy.

The Conference enabled people from all Member States, ages, and backgrounds to share their ideas on the future of their Europe in an open and inclusive debate. It attracted more than five million unique visitors to its digital platform and over 700 000 participants to different events.  

The conclusions of the citizens’ debates were gathered in the Conference’s Final Report, presented in May 2022. The report contained 49 proposals covering nine topics: climate change and the environment; health; a stronger economy, social justice and jobs; EU in the world; values and rights, rule of law, security; digital transformation; European democracy; migration; and education, culture, youth and sport.

To date, the Commission has acted on close to 95% of the Conference measures that are within its remit, and our 2023 and 2024 Commission work programmes have been driven by the results of the Conference. Examples include the proposals for a comprehensive approach to mental health, the Critical Raw Materials Act, social dialogue initiatives, and new rules on packaging and packaging waste.    

Citizens' Panels

Closing the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism for Bulgaria and Romania

The Commission closed in September 2023 the Mechanism that had been introduced at the accession of Bulgaria and Romania as a transitional measure to facilitate progress in the fields of judicial reform, the fight against corruption and organised crime. It played its role in strengthening the rule of law in both countries, and after achieving remarkable progress, it was a matter of fairness to bring it to an end.

The Commission will continue evaluating rule of law matters in Romania and Bulgaria within the framework of the annual Rule of Law Reports, and on the same footing as for all other Member States.

Achievements in other areas