10.6.2021

The EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) has published its annual report on the protection of fundamental rights in the EU Member States. The Fundamental Rights Report 2021 reviews the major human rights developments in the EU in 2020 and contains proposals for action in the following areas: the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its use by Member States; equality and non-discrimination; racism and related intolerance; Roma inclusion and equality; asylum, borders and migration; information society, privacy and data protection; child rights; access to justice; and implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The report also contains a focus chapter which explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fundamental rights and particularly on vulnerable groups.

The report identifies as key issues in 2020 child rights, racism and migration. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in respecting the fundamental rights to health, education, employment and social protection across society. Many children suffered during the pandemic, particularly those from economically or socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The pandemic also fuelled discrimination, hate crime and hate speech towards minorities, such as Roma and people with immigrant backgrounds. Respecting fundamental rights at borders remained challenging in the EU. The report proposes, among other things, that governments consult with national human rights bodies to assess how their public health actions affect fundamental rights. They should also pay attention to high-risk groups and boost the resilience of educational, healthcare and social support services to meet everyone’s needs. In FRA’s opinion, EU countries should put in place lasting structures to tackle inequality, racism and exclusion and step up efforts to counter rights abuses at borders.

The Institute for Human Rights at Åbo Akademi University, together with the Faculty of Law at the University of Turku, currently form the national focal point of FRA’s multidisciplinary research network, FRANET. The researchers at the Institute for Human Rights and the University of Turku have contributed to the Fundamental Rights Report 2021 by providing relevant data to FRA on fundamental rights issues in Finland in 2020. The Finnish country report is also available on-line on the FRA website.