Which EU Country Has the Most Press Freedom?

Key Takeaways

• Fourteen of the world’s 20 highest-ranked countries for press freedom are EU members. The Netherlands leads them at 2nd globally with a score of 88.92.
• Greece ranks 86th globally with a score of 55.05. It has held the lowest EU position since 2022.
• Italy fell seven places to 56th in 2026. The government replaced RAI’s chief executive and most editors-in-chief mid-mandate to direct the broadcaster’s editorial line.
• Spain fell six places to 29th. Media concentration around two private conglomerates and the public broadcaster leaves journalism in chronic economic uncertainty.
• Eight EU member states are already in breach of the European Media Freedom Act. The breaches range from political control over public broadcasters to national security laws that expose journalist sources.

The Netherlands ranks 2nd globally for press freedom. Greece ranks 86th. Both are EU member states. The 33-point gap between them reflects a split inside the EU that the headline numbers tend to obscure.

EU Countries Ranked by Press Freedom

Stay tuned!

Learn something new about Germany every week and make informed decisions with confidence.

Stay tuned!

Learn something new about Germany every week and make informed decisions with confidence.

Fourteen EU Countries Rank in the Global Top 20 for Press Freedom

Fourteen of the world’s 20 highest-ranked countries for press freedom are EU members. The Netherlands leads them at 2nd globally with a score of 88.92.

All 14 EU countries share structural conditions built over decades:

• legal frameworks that protect journalists from surveillance and source exposure
• media ownership spread across multiple independent operators
• public broadcasters that operate without direct government control

Their positions are stable. However, those structural conditions are under pressure. The European Media Freedom Act entered into force in August 2025 to strengthen exactly these protections. But eight EU member states are already in breach of it:

• Seven countries breach it through political control over public broadcaster appointments: Bulgaria, Malta, Italy, Slovakia, France, Lithuania, and Czechia
• Germany’s national security laws fall below the EMFA’s standards for protecting journalist sources

Greece Has Ranked Last Among EU Members Since 2022

Greece ranks 86th globally with a score of 55.05. A wiretapping scandal involving the national intelligence service broke in 2021. It remains unresolved. Journalists in Greece regularly face SLAPP lawsuits. These are legal actions designed to drain reporters’ time and money rather than to win a genuine legal dispute. Their effect is to suppress critical reporting.

Italy and Spain Record the Largest EU Ranking Drops in 2026

Italy fell seven places to 56th, the biggest single-year drop among EU members. It ranks as the EU’s lowest-scoring large economy. Three factors drive the decline:

• The government replaced RAI’s chief executive and most editors-in-chief mid-mandate to direct the broadcaster’s editorial line
• Commercial spyware targeted journalists at fanpage.it after their reporting on government-linked networks
• A new law limits what journalists can report during ongoing criminal proceedings

Spain fell six places to 29th. Its media market concentrates around two private conglomerates, Atresmedia and Mediaset, and the public broadcaster RTVE. That concentration leaves Spanish journalism in a state of chronic economic uncertainty. Political polarization has deepened the media’s instability. A segment of the Spanish media has replaced news with opinion. Far-right groups deploy pseudo-journalists to disrupt press conferences. They target critical reporters directly, including in their private lives.

The largest gains among EU members came from Croatia, which rose seven places to 53rd, and Romania, which rose six places to 49th.

The 2026 rankings are the first since the European Media Freedom Act entered into force. Four of the five lowest-ranked EU members dropped or held their position.