Compliance with Basic Civil Liberties in the EU: A Cross-National Comparison

Since 2009, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) has been legally binding for most EU member states. Yet, literature reveals that the EU still suffers from a serious compliance deficit,indicating that an effective design of compliance structures is still missing. This article intends to find conditions that are conducive for compliance with three basic civil liberties, i.e. freedom of the press, freedom of association and freedom of religion. It is argued that practical compliance depends to a large extent on both capacity and willingness to comply. Capacity includes a country’s financial capacities, bureaucratic efficiency, low regional authority, and an environment enabling an active civil society. Willingness captures the independence of countries’ judiciary, their national power, the level of education, and the strength of civil society. A two-step fsQCA was applied to substantiate pathways that lead to successful compliance with these civil liberties in all CFR signatory states.