Civil Liberties Union for Europe

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Civil Liberties Union for Europe, known as Liberties, is a Berlin-based NGO founded in 2017 by Balázs Dénes. It works across the European Union with national civil liberties groups and has a presence in Brussels. The organization is non-profit and aims to defend civil liberties and human rights in the EU.

Liberties promotes and protects fundamental rights, the rule of law, and democratic values. It does advocacy, public education, and policy analysis to influence EU laws and policies. Its main areas are freedom of expression, privacy and data protection, the rule of law, civic space, and non-discrimination.

A key part of its work is the annual Liberties Rule of Law Report, which assesses the state of civil liberties across the EU. The findings are often cited by media in Europe. For example, the 2022 report noted improvements in Slovenia after a government change. The 2023 report warned that many EU countries did not do enough to address rule-of-law problems, naming Poland and Hungary as serious concerns. The 2024 report focused on a decline in media freedom and warned about concentrated media ownership and lack of transparency. The 2025 report continued to flag deteriorating democratic institutions, judicial independence, and media freedom in several member states. These reports influence debates in Brussels about democracy and the rule of law in the EU.

Overall, Liberties highlights ongoing threats to media freedom and democratic norms in the EU, with attention to how governments and courts interact with civil society.