Trusted, but Not Held to Account?

21 of 27. In that many EU countries, the Police League’s trust pillar scores higher than its perceived-accountability pillar. People tend to trust their police more than they believe complaints are investigated and officers who break the law are punished.

Sweden has the widest gap. Trust scores 92.0 out of 100, among the highest in the EU, while perceived accountability scores 62.6, a gap of 29.4 points. Ireland follows (81.0 against 53.9), then Denmark (93.0 against 66.4) and Slovakia, which has the lowest perceived accountability in the league at 38.0.

Six countries run the other way: Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Latvia, Malta and Poland. In Romania, perceived accountability (62.2) is 9.2 points above trust (53.0).

Across the 27 countries, trust averages 72.5 and perceived accountability 60.6.

The two pillars come from different surveys: trust from Eurobarometer (spring 2026), perceived accountability from the World Justice Project (2023 to 2024). The gap compares how each scores on the league’s 0 to 100 scale. Perceived accountability measures what people believe; the league does not count actual complaints or sanctions. The methodology explains both pillars, and the police ranking has the full breakdown for every country.