As the hot hot summer winds down and people trickle back to the office, we’re looking at what’s on the agenda when Brussels comes back to life.
The end-of-the-month deadline for releasing €10 billion in frozen EU funds looms for Budapest following efforts by Magyar’s government to whip Hungary’s rule of law back into shape. While Hungarian politicians believe the rule of law is sufficiently restored to justify the unlocking of funds, corruption watchdogs remain wary.
Spot the difference: Speaking of the rule of law, Liberties is working on our rule of law gap analysis due to be released in the coming months, comparing our report to the Commission’s rule of law report.
If, like us, you’ve been wondering why the summer heatwave hasn’t led to mass environmental protests and political action on climate change, Liberties Israel’s Butler op-ed for the EU Observer explains how the journalist’s reporting perpetuates the inertia that even 40-degree temperatures and wildfires have failed to shift.
Best, Eleanor & the Liberties Team
Opinion: Journalists need to report on who is causing the climate crisis, so that the EU public feels it can make a change (EU Observer)
Poland Passes Digital Services Act, Adds Lawmakers to Independence-Required Watchdog (Tech Times)
Croatia as a “dismantler of the rule of law” – what does it mean? (Human Rights House)
Romania’s years-long crisis of democratic legitimacy deepens (Remix)
Liberties’ backenders have been toiling all summer ahead of the release of our civic space tracker, due to launch in September.
Civic Space Tracker is an independent platform documenting laws, decrees, and government policies that restrict civic freedoms across the European Union. Through an interactive European map and advanced search filters, visitors can explore country-specific measures affecting civil society organisations, journalists, academics, artists, human rights defenders, LGBTQ+ communities, and other affected groups.
Each entry provides structured legal and contextual information — including publication date, legislative status, key provisions, background context, violated Charter rights, EU law implications, relevant case law, original sources, and documented institutional, civil society, and litigation responses — allowing users to trace patterns, compare national developments, and better understand the evolving legal landscape surrounding civic space across the EU. It’s a goldmine for civic space researchers, nerds, academia, and pretty much anyone who might be interested in the topic.
Since the EU Commission’s rule of law report was released in July, our advocacy team has been reviewing it with a fine-tooth comb and drafting our rule-of-law gap analysis. As the title suggests, our follow-up report highlights how far the Commission’s report diverges from our own and comments on the overall efficacy of the rule of law reporting cycle as a tool to tackle rule of law breaches and trigger preventative action before small violations snowball into systemic issues.
As our teaser gap analysis shows, the Commission’s report falls short of its purported aims and paints a rosier picture than the starker view of Liberties’ own Rule of Law Report, published in March.
Stay tuned!
Via Iuris joins the airwaves: Of interest for our Slovakian speakers, our member Via Iuris launched a new regular podcast, The Path of Law, where its lawyers will talk about the topics and cases they are currently working on.
2026 Midyear Report on Italian Prisons: Italian member Antigone’s midyear report found conditions on the brink of survival amid extreme heat and record overcrowding, while government interventions are futile. Learn more.
Need Digital Protection? Our Swedish member Civil Rights Defenders has partnered with Amnezia VPN to provide journalists and human rights defenders with free access to secure digital protection tools. Applications are now open and there is currently no application deadline.
Don’t despair about what’s happening to our planet. That’s what they want you to feel (The Guardian)
Germany’s establishment has a plan to contain the far right. Sort of. (Politico)
Stop letting the ‘liberals vs populists’ story turn the far-right into the only alternative (EU Observer)
The search for consciousness inside AI (The Economist)
Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality by Peter Pomerantsev
Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference by Rutger Bregman
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As a watchdog organisation, Liberties reminds politicians that respect for human rights is non-negotiable. We’re determined to keep championing your civil liberties, will you stand with us? Every donation, big or small, counts.
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