The study noted similar downtrends in the U.K. (0.78, down 0.01), the U.S. (0.68, down 0.028), Russia (0.41, down 0.049) and Ukraine (0.48, down 0.007).
Russia recorded the sharpest overall decline between 2024 and 2025 of any nation studied, while the marked retreat of the rule of law in the U.S. placed it between Slovenia and Portugal in a ranking of EU, EFTA and North American countries.
At the other end of the scale, Denmark was the EU’s strongest rule-of-law performer (0.90) within the EU and EFTA, followed by Norway, Finland and Sweden.
The study identified a weakening in how government regulations are implemented across the EU. “Notably, improper influence on government regulations worsened in 63% of EU countries, and delays in administrative proceedings increased in 70% of EU countries,” the researchers wrote.
They also found that three out of four EU countries saw declines in civil and criminal justice, with civil justice becoming less free of discrimination and criminal systems less impartial. In more than half of EU countries, the courts were increasingly subject to improper government influence.