STUDY Requested by the LIBE committee (MG DRF) DRAFT THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS MEASURES ON DEMOCRACY, RULE OF LAW AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU An overview of the measures taken by EU Member States Version nr 14 of 8 July 2020 NB: this week's updates are highlighted in yellow Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Directorate-General for Internal Policies EN PE 651.041 – April to July 2020 THE IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS MEASURES ON DEMOCRACY, RULE OF LAW AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EU An overview of the measures taken by EU Member States Abstract This study, drafted by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Monitoring Group on Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights of the LIBE Committee, aims at monitoring and providing an overview the measures adopted by EU Member States in the fight against the spreading of the Covid-19 virus and their impact on DRF. The research is based at this stage on open sources such as press articles, reports of national, European and international bodies, etc, in a rapidly changing situation. This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs for the Monitoring Group on Democracy, Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights. AUTHOR Ottavio MARZOCCHI, Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs (with the support of DG IPOL trainees and colleagues) EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Ginka TSONEVA LINGUISTIC VERSION Original: EN ABOUT THE EDITOR Policy departments provide in-house and external expertise to support EP committees and other parliamentary bodies in shaping legislation and exercising democratic scrutiny over EU internal policies. Disclaimer: the document has been prepared on the basis of open source documents, press articles, press releases, institutional websites, etc. It is a work in progress document, providing an overview of a dynamically changing situation and it may contain errors, in which case you are welcome to inform us so that we can check and correct. To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe for updates, please write to: Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels Email: [email protected] Manuscript completed in June 2020 © European Union, 2020 This document is available on the internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given prior notice and sent a copy. The impact of Coronavirus measures on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in the EU CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 LIST OF TABLES 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: GENERAL OVERVIEW OF MAIN ISSUES 7 INTRODUCTION 7 UN, COUNCIL OF EUROPE, OSCE 30 EUROPEAN UNION 38 AUSTRIA 52 BELGIUM 55 BULGARIA 63 CROATIA 68 CYPRUS 71 CZECH REPUBLIC 74 DENMARK 78 ESTONIA 82 FINLAND 86 FRANCE 90 GERMANY 107 GREECE 111 HUNGARY 117 IRELAND 129 ITALY 131 LATVIA 138 LITHUANIA 142 LUXEMBOURG 146 MALTA 153 THE NETHERLANDS 158 POLAND 161 PORTUGAL 172 ROMANIA 174 SLOVAKIA 179 SLOVENIA 182 PE 651.041 3 IPOL | Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs SPAIN 185 SWEDEN 189 UNITED KINGDOM 192 4 PE 651.041 The impact of Coronavirus measures on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in the EU LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS App Application CoE Council of Europe DRF Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights ECRE Europeaan Council of Refugees and Exiles EP European Parliament EU European Union EU CJ Court of Justice of the European Union FRA Fundamental Rights Agency IPI International Press Institute IPU International Parliamentary Union LIBE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs MG Monitoring Group OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe PACE Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe UN United Nations PE 651.041 5 IPOL | Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Monitoring the exit from state of emergency or emergency powers 10 Table 2: Sanctions 6 PE 651.041 The impact of Coronavirus measures on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights in the EU EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: GENERAL OVERVIEW OF MAIN ISSUES This section has been published as Briefing Note, see https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2020/651343/IPOL_BRI(2020)65134 3_EN.pdf INTRODUCTION This document has been prepared upon request of the MG DRLFR of the LIBE committee to Pol Dep C of 25 March 2020 and is an overview of the coronavirus-related measures taken in the 27 EU Member States (and the UK), by the EU institutions and by the Council of Europe/OSCE/UN and having an impact or related to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights. Nine issues have been examined through researches of open sources (mainly press articles, institutional communication on governmental websites, etc): 1. Rules governing the State of emergency and exceptional powers for the government; description and duration of the measures; role of parliaments; the judiciary 2. Freedom of movement (internal and cross-border; sanctions) 3. Freedom of expression, media freedom, freedom of information (and sanctions), 4. Freedom of assembly (and sanctions) 5. Privacy and data protection 6. Asylum and migration and migration 7. Prisons 8. Discrimination 9. Any other issue relevant for Art. 2 TEU When available and relevant, information has been provided. The document is composed of a - executive summary / general overview (also published as Briefing) highlighting the main issues in MSs that could be of interest for further analysis by the MG - 30 fiches monitoring the initiatives and measures in the 27 EU MSs, the UK, the EU and the Council of Europe/OSCE/UN. Other parallel initiatives are: - a Policy Department Briefing was published, which summarizes the main findings of this overview; - a Policy Department external study on the Covid 19 measures and their impact on DRF will be launched; - ECPRD comparative briefings: - Adjustment of Parliamentary Activity to COVID-19 Outbreak and the prospect of remote sessions and voting, ECPRD - Preventive and sanitary measures in Parliaments, ECPRD - EPRS MEPs service is carrying out and publishing briefings on the 9 issues addressed in this overview, as well as on others: - States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis: Situation in certain Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain), EPRS - States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis: Situation in certain Member States II (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Austria, Romania, and Slovenia), EPRS PE 651.041 7 IPOL | Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs - Tracking mobile devices to fight coronavirus April 2020, EPRS - Tackling the coronavirus outbreak: Impact on asylum-seekers in the EU,22.4.2020, EPRS, - The impact of coronavirus on Schengen borders, 27.4.2020, EPRS - The impact of coronavirus on media freedom, 08-05-2020, EPRS - Coronavirus and elections in selected Member States, June 2020, EPRS - States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis: Situation in certain Member States III, 17-06-2020, EPRS - Coronavirus and prisons in the EU: Member-State measures to reduce spread of the virus, 22- 06-2020, EPRS - States of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis: Situation in certain Member States IV, 07-07-2020 Among those probably upcoming: possibly, Covid 19 and derogations to ECHR. - Pol Dep: various studies already in process will include the Covid 19 perspective and impact: Safety of journalists and the fighting of corruption in the EU; Hate speech and hate crime in the EU and the evaluation of national approaches to online content regulation; Protecting and strengthening freedom of association, civil society and NGOs in Europe ; Artificial intelligence in law enforcement and criminal justice. Impact on fundamental rights. Europeanisation of the European public space; Institutions and foreign interferences; Possible venues for further political integration – a more democratic and effective Union; How has the Schengen evaluation mechanism performed in its first multiannual programme 2014 - 2020? Special focus on an assessment of the 2020 COVID crisis and internal borders. - cooperation and exchange of information with FRA, the Commission, CoE, the Venice Commission, etc has been established. Among the most relevant documents are the following: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AGENCY - FRA Bullettin 1 of 07 April 2020 Coronavirus pandemic in the EU - Fundamental Rights Implications - Bulletin 1 (2.64 MB) and Franet country studies - FRA Bullettin 2 of 28.5.2020 Coronavirus pandemic in the EU – Fundamental Rights implications: With a focus on contact- tracing apps and Franet country studies - FRA Bullettin 3 of 30.06.2020 Coronavirus pandemic in the EU – Fundamental rights implications: with a focus on older people and Franet country studies COUNCIL OF EUROPE - Respecting democracy, rule of law and human rights in the framework of the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, A toolkit for member states of 7 April 2020 VENICE COMMISSION - Report - Respect for Democracy Human Rights and Rule of Law during States of Emergency, Reflections, 26 May