EU Rule-of-Law Reform Implementation Slows for Second Year
The European Commission's annual Rule of Law report, published Friday, reveals that EU member states implemented only 47% of Brussels' recommendations to fight corruption and uphold democracy in 2025, the lowest rate since 2022 and down from 57% in 2024. This marks a second consecutive year of declining implementation, following rates of 68% in 2024 and 65% in 2023. EU officials Henna Virkkunen and Michael McGrath defended the process, citing electoral cycles and the completion of easier reforms. The report highlights serious shortcomings in several countries: Slovakia saw no new high-level corruption cases detected and deteriorating investigative capacity; Spain faced delays in high-level corruption cases linked to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez; and Hungary showed no progress on high-level corruption convictions despite a new government's reform drive, which had unlocked €16.4 billion in frozen EU funds.
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