ENNHRI has released a new report on the rule of law in European Union (EU) enlargement countries. Highlighting why National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are crucial to advancing the rule of law, it features contributions from NHRIs in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine. Alongside a comparative overview of trends and challenges, it gives recommendations and insights on strengthening the rule of law in the EU enlargement context. These can also help support each country’s accession process.

NHRIs’ pivotal role in advancing the rule of law

NHRIs are uniquely positioned to provide independent, evidence-based assessments of national developments. Their contributions help determine whether EU recommendations are being meaningfully addressed and support domestic reforms. As such, they both advance the rule of law and serve as indicators of progress in meeting EU accession criteria.

Pressing need to further enable independence and effectiveness of NHRIs

Across the enlargement region, NHRIs operate in diverse contexts and face various challenges that can affect their independence and effectiveness. Six NHRIs currently hold “A-status” under the UN Paris Principles; three others are “B-status” and one is unaccredited. This underlines the need for further legislative and institutional reforms, repeatedly emphasised by the EU.

Persistent challenges include delays in leadership appointments, limited resources, and insufficient follow-up to NHRI recommendations. These are key for NHRIs to fulfil their mandates effectively.

Recommendations

To address the identified challenges, ENNHRI calls on:

• National authorities to align NHRIs fully with the UN Paris Principles, ensuring adequate resources, transparent leadership appointments, and formalised consultation in law- and policy-making.
• EU institutions to consider the UN Paris Principles-compliant NHRIs as a benchmark for the EU accession process, particularly under Chapter 23, and to monitor progress in this area through annual reporting and political dialogue.

Increasing pressure on civic space and human rights defenders

The situation facing civil society organisations and human rights defenders (HRDs) remains concerning across the region. They face varied challenges, including legal restrictions, intimidation, smear campaigns, and sometimes reprisals. Despite repeated EU calls to safeguard civic space, progress in establishing an enabling environment has been limited in many countries.

Recommendations

To tackle the identified challenges, ENNHRI calls on:

• National authorities to guarantee freedom of association, expression, and assembly; establish robust protection mechanisms for HRDs; and proactively act against reprisals, with particular attention to the most at-risk groups.
• EU institutions to ensure that safeguarding civic space is an important component in enlargement monitoring and to support national reforms through structured dialogue and targeted funding.

Continued challenges: media freedom, justice systems and implementing European Court judgments and EU recommendations

A concerning picture prevails in other areas. Justice systems face persistent structural issues, including political interference, opaque judicial appointments, and slow court proceedings. Media freedom is fragile: journalists face attacks, disinformation is eroding public trust, and regulatory frameworks lack independence. Meanwhile, many states fail to implement (fully) European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) or EU justice reform recommendations, undermining rule of law progress.

Independent monitoring and reporting, including by NHRIs, is essential to closing gaps and ensuring accountable, sustained reform in line with EU standards.

Recommendations

To address the identified challenges, ENNHRI calls on national authorities to:

• Protect journalists through legal safeguards, ensure safe working conditions, and establish independent oversight for media regulation.
• Advance justice reforms in line with EU benchmarks to guarantee judicial independence, improve efficiency, and enhance access to justice.
• Ensure timely and full implementation of ECtHR judgments through adequate institutional and procedural frameworks.

To address the identified challenges, ENNHRI calls on EU authorities to:

• Consider the state of media freedom during enlargement monitoring and support implementation through targeted funding and technical assistance.
• Support the implementation of justice reforms in practice by requiring concrete targets, timelines, and effective monitoring and follow-up.
• Support national action plans with clear timelines, monitoring, and accountability for the implementation of EU recommendations and ECtHR judgments, and to treat effective implementation as a central benchmark for enlargement progress.

The report in the broader context of ENNHRI’s work

With this enlargement-focused rule of law report, ENNHRI advances its contribution to the EU Enlargement Package. The report ensures that the monitoring of candidate and potential candidate countries is grounded in national realities and the enlargement process meaningfully engages with NHRIs.

The findings of the report will inform discussions at ENNHRI’s upcoming policy dialogue on NHRIs and EU enlargement.

The report complements ENNHRI’s annual rule of law reports covering the countries in the Council of Europe region and EU Member States.

Read more on ENNHRI’s work on democracy and the rule of law.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence