EU law: consistent enforcement and implementation to uphold the rule of law

Support for rule of law conditionality and consistent use of infringements for clear and ongoing breaches

Highest number of infringements relate to environment policy area

Need for stronger early-warning system to detect implementation problems and digital tools to support simplification

Effective application of EU law requires rule of law conditionality, consistent use of infringements and improved implementation.

On Wednesday, MEPs adopted their annual report on monitoring the application of EU law between 2023 and 2025, by 416 votes in favour and 190 against with 15 abstentions.

Protecting the rule of law and improving implementation

MEPs regret that the Commission did not publish an annual report on monitoring the application of EU law for 2024, thus breaking with over 40 years of practice. They welcome the Commissioners’ 2025 annual progress reports, as well as the horizontal report, on simplification, implementation and enforcement, but note their lack of focus on challenges and gaps.

The parlamentarians strongly support the rule of law conditionality mechanism and call on the Commission to apply it consistently, with increased focus on EU countries' compliance with fundamental values such as the rule of law, democracy, and respect for human rights.

MEPs stress that petitions are important for identifying issues in EU law implementation and note an increased number of petitions about child sexual abuse, testifying to systemic shortcomings in the implementation of EU law relating to child protection.

Consistent use of infringement procedures

According to MEPs, the Commission should initiate infringement proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against EU countries that clearly and persistently breach EU law, as well as against those that do not implement or do not comply with CJEU rulings. While the environment was the policy area with the most infringement proceedings active over the years concerned, in 2023 it was followed by energy and transport, in 2024 by justice and consumers, and in 2025 by justice, consumers and energy.

Digital tools to help implementation and simplification

MEPs want strengthened early-warning mechanisms to help detect transposition and implementation problems and they also urge the Commission to strengthen and modernise its methods for monitoring the application of regulations. They want complaint procedures to be more accessible, by means for instance of modernised digital tools and multilingual information portals, when it comes to citizens’ and businesses’ rights under EU law.

MEPs stress that simplification does not mean deregulation and that well-designed digital tools can be effective in reducing administrative burdens. They welcome the Commission’s plans to stress-test and reality-check EU legislation while ensuring that policy objectives are effectively met.

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Following the plenary vote, rapporteur Dainius Žalimas (Renew, Lithuania) said: "Europe must deliver tangible results for people and businesses. That means ensuring EU law is applied fully, fairly, and effectively in every member state. Clear rules, robust enforcement, and smart simplification are essential to strengthen both competitiveness and the rule of law across the Union."

Background

As part of its supervisory role Parliament monitors the application of EU law annually on the basis of a report issued by the European Commission. Parliament’s report is an integral part of the exercise of assessing legislative implementation. The Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) leads the Network on Monitoring the Application of Union Law, consisting of 13 parliamentary committees, that also contributes to the annual report.