What do fundamental rights mean for people in the EU? - Fundamental Rights Survey

This report presents a small selection of the survey results. It focuses on findings with respect to respondents’ opinions about human – or fundamental rights; their views and perceptions on the functioning of democratic societies – as a pillar on which human rights can flourish; and on their thoughts on and engagement with public services that have a duty to enforce human rights law and to protect people’s rights.

The survey shows that human rights clearly matter to people. Almost 9 in 10 participants say that human rights help create fairer societies. Yet there is little reason for complacency: many also think that not all benefit equally from them, and that some take unfair advantage of rights protection.

Direct experiences with corruption are thankfully low overall, but vary among countries. The results on corruption in health services make for especially tough reading amidst a pandemic: in some Member States, over 60 % say that a little gift or other favour is necessary to get better treatment at public hospitals.

This is the first report based on a small selection of questions from the survey. It focuses on selected findings with respect to respondents’ opinions about human rights (or ‘fundamental rights’ as they are referred to in the internal context of the EU), their views and perceptions on the functioning of democratic societies – as a pillar on which human rights can flourish, and on their thoughts on and engagement with public services that have a duty to enforce human rights law and to protect people’s rights.