On 17 July 2026, Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, and Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection, held a joint press conference in Brussels, Belgium, to present the 2026 Rule of Law Report. 

During the press conference, Henna Virkkunen stated that the rule of law was essential to the EU’s prosperity, security, and democratic resilience, particularly in the face of rising polarisation and external threats. She noted uneven but overall positive progress and highlighted advances in media freedom linked to the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which had replaced related recommendations. She also stressed the strengthened link between the Rule of Law Report and EU funds under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) proposal, while clarifying that there would be no automaticity between recommendations and funding. 

For his part, Michael McGrath described the seventh edition of the Report, which covered all Member States and four enlargement countries and was structured around four pillars: justice, anti-corruption, media, and checks and balances. He noted that 47% of the recommendations from 2025 had been addressed, cited reforms in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, confirmed role of the EMFA in replacing certain recommendations and announced upcoming anti-corruption initiatives. 

This video shows the complete press conference, followed by a question and answer session.