Introduction

The rule of law is one of the fundamental values upon which the European Union (EU) is founded and represents a constitutional priority shared by all Member States (Article 2 of the Treaty on EU). The rule of law is essential for the proper functioning of democratic societies and the protection of human rights. Furthermore, the rule of law plays a pivotal role in shaping the potential for sustainable regional growth and development.

Adherence to this principle requires effective democratic institutions that ensure public accountability and the separation of powers. It also mandates access to independent and impartial courts that protect people's fundamental rights and guarantee equality before the law. Upholding the rule of law further requires implementing targeted, evidence-informed strategies at both national and subnational levels, which are tailored to meet the diverse needs of people across different regions.

In this context, World Justice Project EUROVOICES provides new data that captures the perceptions and experiences of people living in 110 subnational regions across the 27 EU Member States in the areas of justice, democratic governance, and the rule of law. The report series draws upon surveys responses from more than 8,000 local and independent legal experts, as well as regionally representative household surveys administered to more than 64,000 respondents across the EU. With this data, the World Justice Project (WJP) seeks to contribute to evidence-based decision-making at all government levels by helping decision-makers identify strengths, weaknesses, and policy priorities in their regions.

This data is organized into three thematic reports:

1. Democracy and Fundamental Rights
2. Justice and Safety
3. Transparency and Corruption

Each report focuses on a selection of pillars of the rule of law, comprised of indicators that cover specific dimensions of each concept. Findings for each indicator are categorized into Expert Scorecards, calculated using expert survey responses, and People’s Voices, highlighting complementary question-level data from WJP’s household surveys. These two categories are presented side-by-side, offering a comprehensive view of how EU residents perceive and experience justice, governance, and the rule of law in their respective regions.

The Expert Scorecard captures legal experts’ assessments of composite indicators with scores ranging from 0 to 1, where 1 is the highest possible score and 0 is the lowest possible score. Each score is calculated by aggregating a set of questions that are relevant to various dimensions of the concept being measured. This expert data allows a deeper examination of the technical aspects that determine how people interact with a complex network of institutions and the justice system. In contrast, findings from the People’s Voices database, presented at the question level using percentages (0 to 100%), reflect the beliefs and experiences of the general population.

The project’s conceptual framework builds upon the tested and proven methodology of the WJP Rule of Law Index®—a rigorous quantitative tool that evaluates and ranks 142 countries across key dimensions of the rule of law— with adaptations to reflect the institutional architecture in the EU. It should be noted that the results of both tools are not comparable, because this project presents data from its household surveys separately from its Expert Scorecards, whereas the Index integrates the General Population Poll into each country’s aggregate scores. Additionally, adjustments have been made to the conceptual framework and to the data analysis protocol, including changes in the methods used to calculate scores. For more information on the methodology of World Justice Project EUROVOICES, refer to the methodology section at the end of this report.

Given the diversity of institutional design across EU Member States, the questions in this project’s surveys mainly focus on the outcomes experienced by individuals concerning different issues related to justice, governance, and rule of law. These outcomes result from their interactions with a complex network of institutions at local, national, and supranational levels. In this sense, the questionnaires minimized references to government institutions, focusing instead on the perceptions and experiences of people in the city, town, or village where they live. Regional information was produced following the framework of territorial divisions of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) system.

This project is funded by the EU and complements other research activities conducted by the WJP with the mission of advancing the rule of law worldwide. This data may also complement other monitoring tools that aim to promote a rule of law culture and enhance economic, social, and territorial cohesion in the EU, such as the European Commission’s yearly Rule of Law Report, the EU Justice Scoreboard, and the Cohesion Report, among others.

Key Findings

Democracy and Fundamental Rights:

• People can vote freely: Most people in EU regions agree that they can vote freely, without feeling harassed or pressured.
• Fundamental freedoms are protected: The freedoms of assembly, association, and expression are well-protected across most EU regions; however, some regions are falling short in upholding these essential rights.
• People worry about misinformation: Most people in EU regions believe senior government officials use misinformation to shape public opinion in their favor.
• Discrimination is a challenge across the EU regions: Over 25% of people faced discrimination during the past year in approximately 80% of EU regions.

Justice and Safety:

• Most people who experienced legal problems got the advice they needed: Legal problems are ubiquitous across EU regions. People facing legal problems have access to quality information and advice, and, to a lesser extent, appropriate assistance and representation, with important variations between regions.
• In general, people believe that justice is expensive: Across EU regions, respondents think that most people cannot easily afford the costs of legal assistance and representation, or the costs of dispute resolution mechanisms if they face a legal problem, with significant variations between regions.
• Criminal justice is generally considered effective, but not everyone feels they benefit equally. Most people in EU regions agree that the criminal justice system is effective and respects the rights of both victims and the accused, though there are important variations between regions. However, many believe that not everyone is treated equally.

Transparency and Corruption:

• For the most part, people do not think that state institutions are corrupt: Across EU regions, most people do not believe courts, parliaments, or other state institutions are corrupt. However, concerns exist regarding national governments and parliaments in regions of about a third of EU countries. Additionally, in regions of more than half of EU countries, people believe that political parties are the most corrupt compared to other state institutions.
• Anticorruption measures are seen as ineffective: Across EU regions, most people believe government efforts to control corruption have been ineffective so far.
• Authorities are perceived as transparent and providing information: Expert assessments of transparency and access to information at local level across EU regions are to a large extent positive, and most people believe that local authorities provide accessible information.

General Trends Across Regions:

• Governance is important for development: Across EU regions, where democratic governance is stronger, so is economic development.
• People have more trust in local authorities: Public trust is higher in local authorities than in national governments across EU regions, with 52% of respondents trusting local governments compared to 41% for national ones.
• Governance varies less within countries than across them: Public perceptions of the rule of law vary more between countries than across regions of the same country.
• People in urban and rural areas largely agree on justice and the rule of law, with some exceptions: Across EU regions, urban and rural residents generally share similar views on issues related to justice and the rule of law, though differences emerge in specific regions, countries, population groups, and topics.
• Gender inequality persists: Across EU regions, women generally share similar views to men on justice and the rule of law but hold more negative opinions regarding gender equality in both public and private life.

About this Report

EUROVOICES presents two different types of indicators: Expert Scorecard and People’s Voices. The Expert Scorecard provides an aggregated score at either the subnational or national level, depending on the topic, based on data from WJP’s survey of local and independent legal experts and practitioners from different disciplines. Explore the variable map, found in the “downloads” section, with information on the individual expert survey questions that make up each aggregated score. People’s Voices presents selected question-level data from household surveys to representative samples across the EU on each topic. Additional data and sociodemographic breakdowns of the People’s Voices indicators can be explored on the EUROVOICES dashboard. For all indicators, country-level data, when presented, is calculated using weighted averages of region-level scores based on population size.

This report, Democracy and Fundamental Rights, includes four chapters: (1) Checks on government power, (2) Government respect for checks on power, (3) Civic participation, and (4) Fundamental rights. Each chapter contains thematic findings, definitions for each indicator included, and graphs depicting both expert and household responses (Expert Scorecard and People’s Voices, respectively).

1. Checks on government power: In a society where the rule of law prevails, those in positions of authority within public institutions are held accountable for their actions. This requires a robust constitutional framework that not only reviews the legality of the exercise of power but also ensures that those in power face appropriate legal consequences for misconduct. This chapter outlines the functioning of the basic political accountability mechanisms that constrain government power in democratic settings, encompassing indicators on (1) legislative oversight, (2) judicial independence, (3) independent oversight, (4) independent prosecution, (5) free, fair, and secure elections, and (6) non-governmental checks. These indicators collectively assess the effectiveness of the structures in place to ensure that government actions are checked and balanced by legal standards.

2. Government respect for checks on power: The effectiveness of the democratic checks, as discussed in Chapter 1, is key to ensuring democratic governance. This chapter addresses evolving challenges to these mechanisms, namely focusing on whether they are compromised or undermined by the executive branch. The indicators measure the extent to which the head of government respects these established democratic controls, including respect for (1) the constitution and political opponents, (2) judicial independence, (3) independent oversight, (4) independent prosecution, (5) the electoral system, and (6) civil liberties.

3. Civic participation: A pluralistic decision-making process is not limited to the operation of electoral procedures; it must also consider the continuous participation of the public. At its foundational level, civic participation entails keeping the public informed about government actions. More substantive engagement includes public consultations and open parliament practices, which contribute to decision-making processes, whether these contributions are binding or advisory. The most integrated level of civic participation involves the public in the co-creation of public policies. This is reflected in one composite indicator, (1) civic participation, measuring the extent to which governments collaborate with civil society in policy design and the degree to which local governments consider public input in their decisions.

4. Fundamental rights: The integrity of democratic institutions is closely linked to respect and protection of fundamental rights. Specifically, the fundamental freedoms of assembly and association, and opinion and expression, constitute a central accountability mechanism in a democratic context. This chapter includes information on people's perceptions and experiences regarding the enjoyment of 21 fundamental rights defined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. For analytical coherence, some of these rights have been grouped into 14 broader categories: (1) prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment, (2) prohibition of slavery and forced labor, (3) freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, (4) freedom of peaceful assembly and association, (5) freedom of opinion and expression, (6) right to property, (7) right to asylum, (8) equality before the law, (9) workers’ rights, (10) right to vote and to stand as a candidate at elections, (11) right of access to documents, (12) right to petition, (13) right of movement and of residence, and (14) due process of law.