European Commission 17 July 2026, COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 2026 Rule of Law Report Country Chapter on the rule of law situation in France Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 2026 Rule of Law Report The rule of law situation in the European Union

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This European Commission Staff Working Document constitutes the 2026 Rule of Law Report country chapter for France, assessing the state of the rule of law across four pillars: the justice system, the anti-corruption framework, media pluralism and freedom, and checks and balances. The Commission identifies partial progress on prior recommendations, notably regarding digitalisation of court proceedings and lobbying transparency, while issuing renewed recommendations to accelerate digitalisation of civil and criminal procedures and to extend lobbying disclosure obligations to officials at top-executive level. Significant concerns are noted regarding attacks on judicial independence, media concentration, restrictions on civil society space, and resource constraints affecting anti-corruption and whistleblower protection bodies.AI