Kiri

H.E. Aivo Orav

Permanent Representative of Estonia

Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË – Tel. +32 22991111

EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR JUSTICE AND CONSUMERS

The Director-General

Brussels JUST.C.1/AK/jm/ (2024)5544797

Excellency,

On 24 July 2024, the Commission adopted the fifth annual Rule of Law Report. I would

like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the excellent cooperation of

Estonia with the Commission in this process, which is essential for the quality of the

Report. I look forward to the next edition of the horizontal rule of law dialogue in the

Council in September and the country-specific dialogue in November on this basis.

In the 2024 Report, the Commission provided its assessment of the follow-up given by

Member States to the recommendations included again in the 2023 Report, following

their introduction in 2022. Overall, the Report shows that substantial efforts have

continued to implement the recommendations, while also acknowledging that certain

reforms may take longer to bear fruit. Let me therefore reiterate that the Commission

stands ready to assist Member States in their efforts to follow-up on these

recommendations. In this context, should you find such assistance helpful, I would like to

offer, as also done in previous years, the opportunity of organising a meeting at technical

level to discuss the follow-up to the 2024 Rule of Law Report and its recommendations.

I would be very grateful if you could channel this information to your capital. In case

there is an interest in such follow-up by you or representatives from your capital at the

level deemed appropriate, I would invite you to let my team and me know by using the

functional mailbox rule-of-law-network@ec.europa.eu. For the organisation of such a

meeting, including the involvement of the relevant national authorities as well as the

other involved Commission services, we would rely on the cooperation of your national

Rule of Law contact point (in cc).

This offer for follow-up meetings, is, of course, complementary to the already ongoing

meetings and exchanges at political level between Ministers and Commissioners.

Rest assured that I am at your disposal, should you wish to discuss these matters further.

Yours faithfully,

(e-signed)

Ana GALLEGO

c.c.: John Watson, Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission;

Kadi Karus, Adviser, Legislative Policy Department, Ministry of Justice

of the Republic of Estonia

Electronically signed on 28/08/2024 20:04 (UTC+02) in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Decision (EU) 2021/2121