The Sixth Bulletin of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) examines some of the measures EU Member States have adopted to protect public health as Europe faces the ‘second wave’ of the Covid-19 pandemic. More precisely, it stresses how these may affect fundamental rights, having special regard to social rights.
The report covers the time span bewteen 1 September and 31 October 2020 and centres on :
- Measures by governments and public authorities that affect specific freedoms, such as freedom of assembly and the freedom of movement;
- The impact of Covid-19 and the relating measures to contain it on social rights, especially in the realm of health, education, work, and housing;
- How COVID-19 and efforts to limit its spread affect the social rights of particular groups in society, such as elderly people, persons with disabilities, asylum seekers, and Roma.
As always, the measures taken by the Belgian government, in place since 18 March 2020, have been closely monitored too. The Belgian report, compiled by FRC as national contractor for the FRA, provides a further analysis and assessment of the fundamental rights impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.