ENNHRI welcomes the European Commission’s 2025 Rule of Law Report, which once again underlines the crucial role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) as cornerstones of checks and balances. The report recognises ongoing efforts to strengthen NHRIs in several Member States, while also noting persistent challenges, such as limited resources and difficulties in establishing new NHRIs. The European Commission’s findings refer to regional and country-specific contributions from ENNHRI and its members, confirming NHRIs as key and reliable information providers on the rule of law.

The recognition of NHRIs and reliance on ENNHRI’s submission

The European Commission’s (the Commission) 2025 Rule of Law Report confirms the essential role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in safeguarding the rule of law and strengthening systems of checks and balances.

ENNHRI welcomes the fact that the Commission continues to rely on information provided by ENNHRI and its members, both in written submissions and during country visits. This underlines NHRIs’ role as trusted sources of information on rule of law challenges across different areas – from access to justice and civic space, to media freedom and checks and balances.

The Commission’s main findings and recommendations on NHRIs.

The Commission’s report notes reforms and positive steps on NHRIs’ strengthening in several countries, such as extended resources for Lithuania’s NHRI, governance improvements by the Dutch NHRI, governance reforms of NHRIs in Luxembourg and Austria, and Croatia’s efforts to effectively follow up on its NHRI’s recommendations.

The European Commission also notes persisting challenges, including limited resources for ENNHRI members in Romania and Belgium, expired mandates of the head of the Bulgarian NHRI, and delays in setting up NHRIs in Italy, Malta and Romania. The latter aspect was also included in their country-specific recommendations, where the Commission again urges Italy, Malta and Romania to accelerate efforts to establish an NHRI in line with the UN Paris Principles.

In addition, the Commission reflects on the situation of NHRIs in four enlargement countries. In the Communication, it welcomes Montenegro’s efforts to align its NHRI’s law with the UN Paris Principles.

These findings of the Commission reflect information from ENNHRI’s joint rule of law reporting. Yet, it does not fully reflect the challenges reported by NHRIs across EU Member States. Concerningly, one in four ENNHRI members in EU Member States reported a rise in intimidation, threats, and attacks against NHRIs over the past year.

The new dimension of the Commission’s report and the way forward

This year’s report also includes a new single market dimension. The Commission underlines that the rule of law is crucial for a stable and predictable environment for the EU economy to thrive. This addition is relevant in the context of strengthening the link between the rule of law compliance of EU Member States and access to EU funding in the next EU budget.

Looking ahead, ENNHRI welcomes the Commission’s continued consideration of the functioning of NHRIs in compliance with the Paris Principles as an important aspect of healthy checks and balances. ENNHRI invites the Commission to more consistently reflect on systemic challenges to the rule of law across EU Member States, including those impacting enabling space for NHRIs. ENNHRI recommends that the Commission strengthens the implementation of its country-specific recommendations to address the challenges identified, particularly those persisting over the years despite the Commission’s previous recommendations.

ENNHRI and its members stand ready to continue cooperating with the European Commission to strengthen the rule of law across the EU and enlargement countries, by providing independent expertise, reporting on key developments, and working to address rule of law issues domestically – including through follow-up of the Commission’s findings and recommendations.

More on ENNHRI’s work on the rule of law

Discover ENNHRI’s dedicated contribution to the European Commission’s monitoring cycle on the state of the rule of law in the EU.

Dive into the regional analysis of the state of the rule of law in wider Europe and all individual country reports in ENNHRI’s new tool. This allows users to compare and browse all findings from this and previous years.

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