EU’s Rule of Law Report Card: Not Exactly Straight A’s
The European Parliament is gearing up for what promises to be a riveting press conference on Tuesday, April 28th at 3:30 PM CEST – and by riveting, we mean the kind of event where democracy gets its annual health check and the results aren’t exactly glowing.
Greek MEP Konstantinos Arvanitis from The Left will be the bearer of not-so-great news, presenting Parliament’s assessment of the Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report. Spoiler alert: the EU’s homework on rule of law recommendations hasn’t been getting done.
What’s Got Everyone’s Gavel in a Twist?
The report sounds alarm bells louder than a fire drill in a library. We’re talking serious concerns about judicial independence (judges should be independent, who knew?), corruption (still a thing, apparently), media freedom, and journalist safety. Because nothing says “thriving democracy” quite like journalists needing bodyguards.
But wait, there’s more! The civic space is shrinking faster than your favorite sweater in a hot wash, and digital technologies – including AI-generated content – are causing headaches that aspirin can’t fix. Turns out, deepfakes and democracy don’t mix well.
The Bottom Line
Limited progress on recommendations means the EU is basically that student who keeps promising to do better next semester. The debate hits the plenary floor Tuesday, with voting Wednesday, giving everyone just enough time to pretend they read the whole report.
Journalists can tune in remotely via the Interactio platform or catch it on Parliament’s Multimedia Centre – because even democracy has gone hybrid these days.