This report analyses the issue of equal access for older persons to public services that are undergoing digital transition, from the perspective of fundamental rights.

The increasing digitalisation in all areas of life offers a variety of economic and social opportunities. For many, digitalisation creates opportunities to participate, saves time and money, facilitates communication and makes services more accessible. However, some people cannot fully enjoy these opportunities because they lack the necessary skills to use digital tools or because they cannot afford them. Older persons, a heterogeneous group with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, are among those whose enjoyment of fundamental rights might be at risk from digitalisation.

Along with the potential for positive change, digital advancements also carry risks. Recognising that, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on Human rights, participation and well-being of older persons in the era of digitalisation in 2020. The conclusions invite Member States and the Commission to adopt “an age-integrated approach including a rights-based and life-cycle perspective to ageing, bearing in mind the differences between women and men, through, for instance, the promotion of positive communication on and images of ageing, a focus on the opportunities and challenges of ageing, as well as an acknowledgement of the wide range of differences between older persons and a greater understanding of the contribution that older persons make to social cohesion and economy.” [2]  Council of the European Union (2020), Council conclusions on human rights, participation and well-being of older persons in the era of digitalisation, Brussels, 9 October 2020, para. 23.

Some digitalised public services, such as pensions, and health or social benefits, are legally guaranteed fundamental rights. Excluding people from accessing them may breach the law and can increase older persons’ dependency, social isolation and disempowerment.

The Council conclusions stress the need to maintain some non-digital public services. They call for respect for older persons’ rights and needs, including those with and without disabilities. In its conclusions, the Council invites the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to explore the impact of digitalisation on the fundamental rights, active participation and well-being of older persons. [3] Ibid., para. 50.

Digitalisation can impact many rights of older persons, including the enjoyment of their rights as citizens, and their participation in political, social and cultural life.

This report focuses on rights to public services. It analyses how far national legal and policy frameworks on digitalisation address fundamental rights implications related to equal access to digital public services. It maps current legislation, policies and practices fostering digital inclusion and equal access to public services undergoing digitalisation, and the availability of offline access channels for older persons who are unable or unwilling to use online options. It emphasises EU policy, which is where most EU initiatives relating to the rights of older persons have emerged.

The right to access to public services is part of the right to good administration protected under Article 41 of the Charter. This includes equal access to public services that are in the process of digitalisation. The requirement of equal access is based on prohibition of discrimination on the ground of age (Article 21 of the Charter) and the general prohibition of discrimination on any grounds enshrined in Article 10 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Article 25 of the Charter states that “The Union recognises and respects the rights of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and independence and to participate in social and cultural life.”

The Charter is legally binding on the EU, and on EU Member States when they are implementing EU law (Article 51 of the Charter). The aforementioned provisions therefore govern the design, interpretation and application of EU legislative and policy initiatives, including those concerning digitalisation. They provide the relevant and applicable legal basis for assessing older persons’ access to digitalised public services from a fundamental rights perspective. Moreover, Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union affirms that respect for human rights is a fundamental value on which the Union is founded.

At this time, there is no EU legislation in the form of directives or regulations dedicated to the rights of older persons. At policy level, however, a number of initiatives can be highlighted.

The European Commission presented its vision for a digitally transformed Europe by 2030 in its communication 2030 digital compass: The European way for the digital decade of 9 March 2021. It proposed a European Digital Decade policy programme, which presents the objectives, the targets to be reached by 2030 and the annual monitoring mechanism for measuring progress.

The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles(the Declaration), adopted on 15 December 2022, reflects European values. [4] European Community, Treaty on European Union, OJ 1992 C 191, Art. 2.
It refers to the Charter, the European Pillar of Social Rights and other rights, such as data protection [5] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC, OJ 2016 L 119 (General Data Protection Regulation).
and data privacy. [6] Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector, OJ 2002 L 201 (Directive on privacy and electronic communications).
The Declaration refers to principles of solidarity and inclusion in access to technologies and commits EU Member States to taking measures to ensure that fundamental rights are respected online as well as offline and that nobody is left behind in the transition. Furthermore, the Declaration commits Member States to undertaking digital transformation in a way that includes older persons, those living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, and marginalised, vulnerable or disenfranchised people, and those who act on their behalf.

The Digital Compass also encourages Member States to ensure that by 2030 their “Public services should be fully accessible online, including for persons with disabilities, and benefit from easy-to-use tools with high security and privacy standards.” [7] European Commission (n.d.), ‘Digital public services: Part of 2030 digital compass: Your Digital Decade’.
The European Digital Decade policy programme sets as targets for 2030 that 100 % of all key public services should be available online, all citizens should have access to their e-medical records and use a digital ID solution, and 80 % of citizens aged 16 to 74 years should have at least basic digital skills. With public services increasingly moving to a digital mode, it calls upon Member States to ensure that nobody is left behind. All targets are monitored on an annual basis by a structured, transparent and shared monitoring system, namely the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

Franet, FRA’s research network, collected the information for this comparative report between April and July 2022. The information covers all EU Member States and the candidate countries North Macedonia and Serbia. With its analysis, FRA aims to contribute to relevant EU and national policy discussions on ensuring a digitally just society for all, including for all older persons. The research maps if and how national legal and policy provisions ensure the right to equal access for all to public services that are undergoing digitalisation, and for specific groups at higher risk of digital exclusion, such as older persons, persons with disabilities, low incomes or low education levels, and people living in rural areas.

For this purpose, Franet mapped national legal and policy instruments addressing the digitalisation of public administration and related public services, to collect evidence on provisions and safeguards that ensure equal access for all, or for older persons. The research also looked for information on the availability of offline access channels for persons who are unable or do not wish to use the online option. The focus was on public services relevant to older persons. The scope of this research does not cover assessing if public service websites conform with web accessibility standards, which are based on established criteria.

Research for this project entails desk research mainly based on publicly available secondary sources and, in specific cases, information obtained by specific requests from government officials, public bodies, equality bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society organisations and research institutes. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey (2019), the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) report 2022 and the corresponding sections of Eurostat’s database provided the data for the statistical context.

In the context of this research, ‘older persons’ were defined as aged 65 or older. A reason for the choice of the starting age is that, from this age on, people are less and less part of the active workforce. Therefore, they have fewer opportunities to acquire or maintain digital skills or access the internet through the workplace.

Older persons are not a homogeneous group but show the same heterogeneity of demographic and socio-economic characteristics, such as gender, education, income, health status, race and migration background, as the total population. That may affect whether and how they enjoy their fundamental rights.

The report does not reflect this intersectionality perspective (see the  Glossary) in detail, as the information collected and the statistical data did not allow for an analysis by these characteristics. Instead, it mentions, where relevant, other groups with relatively high risks of digital exclusion, such as women, persons with disabilities, low education levels or low incomes, and people living in rural areas. All of those groups also include older persons.

Chapter 1 of this report outlines the current context of demographic ageing, the consequences for digital societies, the ‘grey digital divide’, and the inequalities older persons might face in accessing public services that are undergoing digitalisation.

Chapter 2 outlines key legal and policy frameworks that address the rights of older persons and pave the way towards the digital decade.

Chapter 3 presents findings based on a comparative analysis of national reports from the EU-27, North Macedonia and Serbia, which Franet provided through desk research in 2022. It summarises national legislation, policy instruments, programmes and practices relating to digitalising public services from a fundamental rights perspective. It focuses on non-discrimination and equal access in general, and particularly for older persons and other groups at risk of digital exclusion.

Chapter 4 describes targeted measures at individual and structural levels that ensure equal access for older persons to public services that are undergoing digitalisation and the bridging of the different digital divides.

Chapter 5 outlines some key conclusions and suggestions for improving the participation of older persons in digital life.