Discussions on fundamental rights do not necessarily reflect what people understand by them or how they experience them in their everyday lives, nor do they necessarily reflect what people are most concerned about.

With this in mind, the survey explores how people in the EU view democratic values. Can they enjoy their fundamental rights? Do they think the courts and media function freely? What do they think about politicians and about corruption?

FRA’s survey captured the views of old and young, people with different levels of education, men and women, those who are struggling on their present income, and those who are comfortably off.

The results will help policymakers and human rights organisations make evidence-based decisions to promote and protect human rights.

• 88 % of people in the EU say that human rights are important for creating a fairer society. But 68 % think that some people take unfair advantage of human rights.
• The survey results reveal stark differences between countries and groups in society. People’s views differ significantly, depending on their age, gender, wealth, level of education or whether they live in the countryside or in the city. For example, more people with lower incomes or longstanding health issues believe that human rights bring unfair benefits to some people.
• 33 % believe that human rights only benefit those who do not deserve them, such as criminals and terrorists. This goes up to 44% for people who find it difficult to make ends meet. By educational level, 41 % with lower secondary education or less share this view, but only 23 % with higher education.
• In 11 out of 27 EU Member States, 50 % or more agree that human rights abuses are not really a problem in their country, but instead are something that happens ‘elsewhere’. People who find it difficult to make ends meet are less likely to share this view: 43 % do so, compared with 54 % of people who easily make ends meet.

• People clearly value democratic principles, particularly free and fair elections: 86% believe that these are very important for democracy.
• But views vary by age. To older people, certain aspects of democracy are more important than to younger people. For example, only 58 % of young people aged 16-29 think that it is important that opposition parties can freely criticise the government. This compares to 69 % of people 65 years and older.
• The survey asked questions on the importance of free elections and the critical role of opposition parties. However, the Agency does not have a mandate to monitor the democratic functioning of our societies. This task lies with the EU institutions and EU Member States.

• Most people (60 %) think that mainstream parties and politicians do not care about them. This rises to staggering 73% for people who struggle to make ends meet. By comparison, only 45 % of those who easily make ends meet share this view.
• 63 % think that people have better chances of being hired if they belong to the political party that is in power. This view is again more common among people with lower incomes. It also varies country by country – for example, from over 80 % in Croatia, Greece and North Macedonia to under 30 % in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.

• 27 % think that judges in their country are not free from government influence.
• There are significant differences between countries – the results range from 47 % in Croatia and 65 % in North Macedonia to 11 % in both Denmark and Finland.
• People who struggle to make ends meet are more likely (35 %) to say that judges are never or rarely free from government influence, compared to 22 % of those who can easily get by with their income.
• 21 % also think that NGOs and charities cannot work without government intimidation.

• 11 % think they were not treated equally by public administration. This rises to 17 % for people who struggle financially.
• There are no differences between genders - the same proportion of men and women say they have not been treated equally.
• When it comes to education, people with higher levels of education say they have experienced problems with public administration more often than those who completed at most lower secondary education (50 % vs 36 %).

• Only 4 % have been asked by a public official for a favour, gift or donation.
• But there are stark differences between countries and sectors. In some countries, almost every fifth person has been asked for a favour, gift or donation when dealing with public administration or hospital.
• 48 % of young people would find it acceptable to give a gift or do a favour, compared with under 35 % in other age groups.
• Corruption in healthcare is a particular problem; over 60 % of people in Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Latvia consider it common for people to offer favours to speed up access to healthcare. Moreover, in Slovakia, Czechia and Croatia, a majority consider it acceptable to sometimes give a gift or do a favour for a public official to have their matter dealt with more quickly.

• 53 % of Europeans are aware of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, 10 years after it became legally binding across the EU.
• More people have heard about the European Convention on Human Rights (68 %) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (67 %), which are both long-standing human rights instruments.
• Awareness of human rights instruments is lower among people with lower education and those who struggle to make ends meet. For example, awareness drops from 93 % for university-educated people to 65 % of people who have lower secondary education.

In particular, the Agency suggests:

1. Communicate more effectively on rights – fundamental rights are for all; promote the benefits of fundamental rights and make sure everyone can enjoy them, especially those who struggle to make ends meet and believe these rights do not apply to them.
2. Focus on young people – reach out to and engage with young people to encourage them to take part in decision making, so they can support shaping future policies.
3. Involve those who feel ‘left behind’ – reach out to those who feel ‘left behind’, consider them in the decision-making process and show that their opinions matter.
4. Improve trust in judiciary – improve public trust in the judiciary by safeguarding the independence of judges and courts. Share best practices across countries and learn from each other.
5. Make public services accessible to all – ensure unhampered access to public information and services, especially for those who have long-standing health problems and/or disabilities.
6. Fight corruption – do not let corruption violate people's rights, especially in healthcare. Governments should adopt zero tolerance towards corruption as it erodes public confidence.

The results published today focus on respondents’ opinions about human rights, functioning of society, and public bodies that have a duty to enforce human rights law and protect people’s rights.

In 19 countries, trained interviewers contacted the respondents in person. They asked interviewed respondents and asked them to complete the survey using a tablet computer.

In 10 countries, respondents were asked to complete the questionnaire online. They received letters by mail inviting them to participate in the survey.

In France and Germany, already existing online panels were used to invite people to take part in the survey. In these two countries, quotas ensured that the sample size corresponded with the structure of the total population in terms of age, gender, employment status, education and region.

Ipsos MORI colllected the data on behalf of FRA, in cooperation with Statistics Netherlands (CBS) in the Netherlands, the Centre des Technologies de l'Information de l'Etat (CTIE) in Luxembourg and Statistics Austria in Austria.

FRA will also make an extensive set of survey results available through an online data explorer on its website in November 2020.

It also aims to make the microdata and full dataset available in 2021-2022.

This report will be the first in a series of thematic reports drawing on the survey results.

“Human rights are losing their importance, we must not forget that they are the foundations of our democracy.”
(Woman, between 30 and 44 years old, survey respondent, France)

“In practice, basic human rights do not apply to all citizens equally and there exist first and second class citizens.”
(Woman, between 45 and 54 years old, survey respondent, Croatia)

“I have been heartened by recent referenda regarding same-sex marriage, abortion and divorce […] and I feel proud to be a citizen and part of positive cultural change.”
(Woman, between 30 and 44 years old, survey respondent, Ireland)

“Estonia is generally a country where human rights are respected, but the problem is, in my opinion, that it is hard to cope for people with low incomes (pensioners, people with disabilities).”
(Man, between 16 and 29 years old, survey respondent, Estonia)

“The Netherlands is mainly doing okay with protecting human rights, but would do well to continue to focus on a more transparent and more citizen-oriented democracy.”
(Man, between 16 and 29 years old, survey respondent, the Netherlands)

“So what I think is important, everybody always says that we can’t change anything anyways, but it is at least a small start to go to vote, I mean how many youths don’t go to vote at all anymore. And then they ultimately get upset about the ones who are still there.”
(Woman, between 18 and 29 years old, focus-group participant, Germany)

“Human rights are followed when one has political contacts. The common person is unprotected.”
(Woman, 65+ years old, survey respondent, Spain)

“Judges must not be interfered with, we must let them do their job. And then I think we’ll have a good judicial system.”
(Man, 65+ years old, focus-group participant, Greece)

“You need connections to be appointed a judge in the first place, so the influence begins even at this stage.”
(Woman, between 45 and 54 years old, focus-group participant, Bulgaria)

“I think we have to look up too much ourselves about our rights. We do not get informed enough.”
(Woman, 65+ years old, survey respondent, Belgium)

“As a mother of a disabled child, it is appalling to experience how little help and guidance you get in relation to rights, opportunities etc.”
(Woman, between 30 and 44 years old, survey respondent, Denmark)

“I would like public authorities to guarantee and defend my rights and the rights of other people and that the laws should work equally for all.”
(Woman, between 45 and 54 years old, survey respondent, Lithuania)

“An application I made to a national authority was rejected without explanation. I made a complaint and wait the response for 6 months... is a matter of health...”
(Man, 65+ years old, survey respondent, Cyprus)

“I find it very difficult to obtain information regarding, for example, pension conditions, etc., since the French state and the Danish state do not necessarily work together. It can be seen as a major obstacle to the free movement of EU countries.”
(Man, between 54 and 64 years old, survey respondent, Denmark)

“The public administration works too slowly, it sometimes takes weeks to receive a response to requests, and when it does, the information is so cluttered that it cannot be understood.”
(Man, 65+ years old, survey respondent, Germany)

“Public hospital doctors always expect a gift in order to take better care of you.”
(Man, between 16 and 29 years old, survey respondent, Cyprus)

“For example when you have to pay heavy money to the gynaecologist so that you will be treated as a human being in the hospital — and that’s absolutely general, there’s nothing unusual about it.”
(Woman, between 30 and 44 years old, focus-group participant, Hungary)