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On 17 July 2026, the European Commission published the seventh edition of its Rule of Law Report, covering all 27 Member States and four candidate countries.
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The document assesses four pillars: the justice system, the fight against corruption, media pluralism, and institutional checks and balances.
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In the Poland chapter, the Commission notes “some further progress” and a “positive trajectory,” even though the key legal changes it has recommended for years still have not been carried out.
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The Ordo Iuris analysis shows that the leniency of the Commission’s assessments depends on Brussels’s sympathies and the political complexion of those in power, rather than on the actual state of the rule of law.
On 17 July 2026, the European Commission published the seventh edition of its Rule of Law Report. The Ordo Iuris Institute has prepared a detailed analysis of the chapter devoted to Poland, showing that the leniency of the assessments depends on Brussels’s sympathies and the political complexion of those in power.
As in previous years, the Report consists of an EU-wide communication together with separate country chapters. It assesses four key areas: the justice system, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism, and institutional checks and balances. The document covers all 27 EU Member States as well as four candidate countries: Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
In the chapter devoted to Poland, the Commission notes “some further steps toward implementing the action plan for restoring the rule of law.” It points, among other things, to legislative work on the National Council of the Judiciary (KRS), the separation of the functions of the Minister of Justice and the Prosecutor General, and the amendment to the media act. At the same time, it treats a number of controversial issues only briefly – from the dispute over the composition and legality of the Constitutional Tribunal, through the regulation restricting the random assignment of cases, to the plan to dissolve the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.
The Ordo Iuris analysis shows that, since 2023, the Commission has treated Poland considerably more leniently – despite the absence of any real reform in the areas it had already flagged. The analysis also points to doubts about the Report’s methodology (the selection of interlocutors during the country visit exclusively from circles sympathetic to the current government), inconsistency in the assessment of the procedure for electing judge-members of the KRS, and a selective approach to the problems of the Constitutional Tribunal and the prosecution service. A comparison with the chapters on Hungary and Romania, in turn, shows that the EU Rule of Law Report remains a strongly politicized instrument.
See also:
- Does the Presidium of Poland’s National Council of the Judiciary Signal an Attempt to Remove Judges in Breach of the Constitution?
- Two Court Defeats in a Week for Poland’s Justice Minister as Supreme Court Defends Judicial Independence
- The Polish Sejm Elected Judges to the National Council of the Judiciary – Based on Provisions That the Current Governing Coalition Claimed Were Inconsistent with the Rule of Law
- The European Parliament Calls for More Decisive EU Interferences in Defense of the “Rule of Law”
- How to End the Rule-of-Law Crisis in Poland – An Ordo Iuris Report Submitted to the President
Source of cover photo: iStock
