Key findings

• Author: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 7-12

7

This bulletin outlines some of the measures EUMember States have put in place to protect

public health during – and following the f‌irst peak of – the Coronavirus pandemic. It highlights

how the different measures may affect fundamental rights. Where specif‌ic articles are

mentioned in the report, these refer to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European

Union, which also serves as a proxy for the many other human rights standards that apply

at national level.1

The report covers the period 1–30June 2020 and focuses on four interrelated issues:

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states of emergency or equivalent measures;

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measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its impact on social life,

education, work, the justice system and travel to and within the EU;

—

the impact of the virus and efforts to limit its spread on particular groups in society,

namely people in institutional settings, older persons, persons with disabilities, Roma

and Travellers, detainees and victims of domestic violence;

—

specific areas in which the pandemic has prompted significant fundamental rights

issues, including racism and xenophobia, asylum and migration, disinformation, and

data protection and privacy.

The most widespread restrictions on daily life experienced in peacetime in modern Europe

affect everyone living in the EU, albeit in different ways. This has implications for the

enjoyment across our societies of nearly all the fundamental rights enshrined in the

Charter. The following paragraphs outline key f‌indings from FRA’s data collection across

the 27EUMember States, illustrating the impact on fundamental rights of the virus and

the measures to contain it.

Key f‌indings