Judicial Independence and Expenditure in EU Accession Candidates

RESILIO-ACCESS Snapshot Series

The Snapshots are a series of comprehensive analyses on how to study the resilience of the rule of law in EU accession countries. Using concrete empirical examples from the candidate countries, they use the RESILIO-ACCESS model as an analytical framework to explain how the resilience of the rule of law can be measured.

The Snapshots cover primary and subsidiary resilience resources.

This Snapshot analysis underscores that judicial independence and adequate resourcing are central to rule of law resilience in EU accession countries and beyond. Across the nine focus states, levels of judicial independence and expenditure remain well below EU averages, reflecting persistent challenges such as politicised appointments, weak accountability, and institutional fragility.
Evidence from past accession rounds demonstrates that EU integration can act as a catalyst for reform, strengthening judicial autonomy and fostering a healthier separation of powers. Yet EU membership alone does not guarantee resilience, as the case of Hungary illustrates: the centralisation of power and weakening of oversight mechanisms may significantly undermine judicial independence.

Read the report:
Judicial Independence and Expenditure in EU Accession Candidates

About the RESILIO-ACCESS: Resilience Observatory on the Rule of Law in EU Accession Candidates project: How resilient is the rule of law in the EU enlargement countries? RESILIO-ACCESS uses an interdisciplinary approach to answer this question and identifies how EU enlargement policy can contribute to resilient democratic structures in the region.

Image copyright: denhans / Photocase