Fundamental rights, measured across Europe.
A composite index that turns the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into comparable evidence — standardised 0–100 scores for all 27 member states across four rights categories, tracked from 2025 to 2026.
Hatched: countries in focus of the project
From paper rights to lived reality
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees rights to every person in the Union. This index asks a harder question: how well are those rights actually implemented? Each country is scored on four categories tied directly to Charter articles, drawing on 28 indicators from trusted, public sources.
- 01 Equality & Non-Discrimination Art. 21 & 23 40% weight
- 02 Safeguarding Civic Space Art. 11 & 12 40% weight
- 03 Effective Remedy & Fair Trial Art. 47 15% weight
- 04 Integration of Vulnerable Groups Art. 24 & 26 5% weight
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A continent-wide gap
Denmark leads at 66.9; Hungary trails at 25.9 — a 41-point spread in how the same Charter is implemented.
Barely any movement
The EU27 average shifted only from 50.2 to 50.3 between editions — progress on rights is slow.
Vulnerable groups diverge most
Integration of vulnerable groups is the most unequal category; judicial fairness is the most even.
Where the 27 stand
Pick a category, switch between the ranked bars and the heat map, and toggle the year. Hover any country for its full profile.
Toggle 2026 / 2025 to see how scores have shifted.
Overall index ranking · 2026
Hatched: countries in focus of the project
Rights, one dimension at a time
Each category recombines its own indicators into a 0–100 score. The spread bar shows the distance from the weakest to the strongest performer, with the EU27 average marked.
Equality & Non-Discrimination
Non-discrimination · Equality between women and menThe widest internal spread: strong legal frameworks on paper often outpace real outcomes for women and LGBTQ+ people.
Safeguarding Civic Space
Freedom of expression · Assembly & associationPress freedom is the sharpest weakness among the lowest performers, and civic-space scores cluster far below the leaders.
Effective Remedy & Fair Trial
Right to an effective remedy and a fair trialThe most tightly bunched category — most member states sit within reach of the EU average on judicial fairness.
Integration of Vulnerable Groups
Rights of the child · Persons with disabilitiesThe largest divergence of all: a 55-point gap separates the best and worst on children’s and disability rights.
Build your own comparison
Select up to four member states to see them side by side — overall and across every category. The dashed marker is the EU27 average.
How the index is built
The index draws on 28 indicators from reliable, publicly available sources, each standardised to a 0–100 scale and combined into four weighted categories. Two editions — 2026 (latest data) and 2025 (retroactive) — allow change over time to be tracked.
- Equality & Non-Discrimination (Art. 21 & 23)
- Safeguarding Civic Space (Art. 11 & 12)
- Effective Remedy & Fair Trial (Art. 47)
- Integration of Vulnerable Groups (Art. 24 & 26)
- Media Pluralism Monitor
- World Press Freedom Index (RSF)
- V-Dem
- CIVICUS Monitor
- WJP Rule of Law Index
- EIGE Gender Equality Index
- ILGA-Europe Rainbow Map
- MIPEX
- Pew GRI
- World Bank
- WEF Global Gender Gap
- SDG indices
- EU Justice Scoreboard
- KidsRights Index
- Eurostat
Indexes simplify complex social realities. This one follows a specific model shaped by the GRACE project’s goals and the limits of available data. It works best as an entry point for further research — a comparative tool, not a final judgement — ideally paired with qualitative studies that capture local context and nuance.