“Wholesale constraints on our lives are easing as we better learn to live with COVID-19,” says FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty. “We must acknowledge how frontline workers, courts, national bodies, civil society worked tirelessly to promote and protect fundamental rights during the pandemic. This work should not stop here. We need to continue to build on their efforts in the ‘new normal’ to respect and advance fundamental rights for all.”

This fourth FRA Bulletin on the Coronavirus pandemic in the EU: fundamental rights implications looks at how EU Member States tackle the pandemic and the impact on fundamental rights:

1. States of emergency: Many governments continue to lift states of emergency or equivalent to manage the pandemic but they often extend or impose other crisis measures. Courts, national human rights bodies and civil society organisations continue to question the legality of fundamental rights restrictions.
2. Daily life: Although governments gradually eased restrictions, all EU governments maintain physical distancing measures. These include wearing of masks in some places and stay-at-home orders for COVID-19 sufferers.

As Member States reopen schools and plan for the next school year, various assessments underline how children from disadvantaged backgrounds lack equipment and support for distance learning.

With many people working again, studies point to the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women when it comes to work-life balance and caring responsibilities.

Judicial systems also continue to return to normal. They tried to clear case backlogs through longer hours or more staff. Many still use video hearings for some cases.

Member States continue to ease temporary controls at their internal borders and restrict travel to the EU in line with EU recommendations.

3. Vulnerable groups: COVID-19 measures continue to affect some groups more.

Restrictions eased for older people and people with disabilities in institutions. But sometimes visiting guidelines are too complex or restrictions are over-implemented or disproportionate leading to greater stress and loneliness.

Some Member States run initiatives to counter the impact on Roma communities, such as educational programmes or access to information and healthcare.

Some also support victims of rising domestic violence, by opening new shelters, support networks and more funding to better protect victims.

4. Digital concerns: Many Member States work on contact-tracing apps and other technological tools, including the use of drones and other forms of surveillance to combat the pandemic. Data protection bodies continue to call for legal clarity on the use of such tools.

Governments continue to fight disinformation by enhancing transparency on virus statistics, creating dedicated platforms and media funding.

5. Racism: The pandemic is further stoking intolerance towards minorities. In several Member States, politicians reportedly used racist and xenophobic language. Some countries also reported racial profiling and disproportionate enforcement of COVID-19 related restrictions towards ethnic minority groups.

This report covers measures in place in the 27 EU Member States from 1 to 30 June 2020.

• EIB supports Northvolt’s gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells in Skellefteå, Sweden, with backing from the Investment Plan for Europe.
• EIB financing of $350 million follows the successful financing of Northvolt’s demo line in 2018, which the EIB supported with a €52 million loan.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a $350 million loan agreement to support the financing of Europe’s first home-grown gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells, Northvolt Ett, in Sweden. The financing is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. In 2018, the EIB also supported the establishment of the demonstration line Northvolt Labs, which produced its first battery cells in late 2019, and which paved the way for Europe’s first home-grown gigafactory.

The new gigafactory is currently under construction in Skellefteå in northern Sweden – a region home to a prominent raw material and mining cluster, which has a long history of process manufacturing and recycling. Noting the region’s clean power base, building the factory in northern Sweden will enable Northvolt to utilise 100% renewable energy within its production processes.

EIB Vice-President Andrew McDowell, noted: “Since the creation of the European Battery Alliance in 2018, the EIB has stepped up its support for the battery value chain to order to help build Europe’s strategic autonomy in a technology that is key to its competitiveness and low carbon future. I believe that EIB financing support for Northvolt has been a textbook example of how our financial and technical due diligence can help crowd in private investors to visionary projects.”

European Commissioner Vice-President in charge of the European Battery Alliance, Maroš Šefčovič, said: “The EIB and the Commission are strategic partners under the EU Battery Alliance, working closely with the industry and Member States to put Europe on a firm path towards global leadership in this strategic sector. Northvolt has been among our frontrunners, set to build Europe’s first home-grown Gigafactory for lithium-ion battery cells, with a minimal carbon footprint. By supporting this state-of-the-art project, we also confirm our resolve to boost Europe’s resilience and strategic autonomy in key industries and technologies.”

Northvolt Ett will serve as Northvolt’s primary production site, hosting active material preparation, cell assembly, recycling and auxiliaries. Ramping up to full capacity, Northvolt Ett will produce 16 GWh of battery capacity per year in its initial phase, to be scaled up at a later stage to potentially 40 GWh. Northvolt’s batteries are designed to be used in automotive, grid storage, and industrial and portable applications.

Peter Carlsson, Co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, said: “The EIB has played a key role in making this project possible from the very beginning. We are tremendously grateful for the support we have received from them and the European Union. Europe needs to build its own supply chain for large-scale battery manufacturing and the EIB is a true cornerstone of that process.”

Northvolt is a European supplier of sustainable, high-quality battery cells and systems. Founded to enable the European transition to a decarbonised future, the company has made swift progress on its mission to deliver the world’s greenest lithium-ion battery with a minimal CO₂ footprint. Among Northvolt’s industrial partners and customers are ABB, BMW Group, Scania, Siemens, Vattenfall, Vestas and the Volkswagen Group. For more information visit northvolt.com

• The aim of this project is to improve assistance for vulnerable people and help them overcome their situation by innovating in the procurement of social services.
• The agreement, supported by the Investment Plan for Europe, will assess the feasibility of social impact bonds to finance measures aimed at reducing homelessness.  
• The Municipality will only bear the cost of the project if it is successful. 

The European Investment Advisory Hub, funded by the European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB), will advise the Municipality of Madrid on the implementation of innovative financing and procurement methodologies aimed at improving the effectiveness of services for vulnerable people residing in temporary accommodation. The agreement, the first of this kind within the context of the Advisory Platform for Social Outcomes Contracting, was signed today in Madrid by EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro and Deputy Mayor of Madrid Begoña Villacís.

Through this agreement, EIB experts will provide the Municipality of Madrid with a comprehensive feasibility study on the launch of a social impact bond, an innovative financing solution aimed at enabling vulnerable groups residing in temporary accommodation to become independent and leave these facilities faster. This would allow a greater number of vulnerable people to access such accommodation. The procurement of service providers would be carried out through social outcomes contracting methodologies, where the Municipality is only required to pay for the services if the objectives are achieved, hence delivering real impact on the ground through innovative financing instruments.

This contracting and financing methodology ensures transparency and better control over the results, as it is necessary to establish a system of metrics upfront, to measure the extent to which the objectives have been achieved. This will ensure that public policies are effective and efficient, as the administration will only pursue projects that have demonstrated their ability to produce results within the agreed budget.

The agreement has been signed in the context of the Investment Plan for Europe, which enables the EU bank to support projects that present particular value added owing to their nature or structure.

EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro, who is responsible for the EIB’s operations in Spain, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the Municipality of Madrid by advising it on this project which will have such an important social impact. The EIB Group and the European Investment Advisory Hub have extensive experience in the development of innovative financing instruments designed to support the effective delivery of social services, such as social impact bonds. We are pleased to be able to share this knowledge with the Municipality of Madrid to help it improve vulnerable people’s living conditions.”

European Commission Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, said: “The Investment Plan’s Advisory Hub has proven to be a key tool in getting investment projects off the ground. Thanks to the technical assistance it provides, the Municipality of Madrid will be able to give homeless people the helping hand they need to access new opportunities and change their situation. The European Commission is proud to support this social project which has the potential to make an enormous difference to the lives of many.”

Deputy Mayor of Madrid Begoña Villacís said: “The social impact bond puts Madrid at the forefront of social policy, as it will enable us to carry out innovative projects with very little risk. Social entrepreneurs looking to transform our cities know that they can count on the Municipality’s support to pilot their projects. This is a very promising form of public-private cooperation, and it is a great triumph for us to be able to count on the backing of the EIB, which we thank for its commitment to our city.”

The support will be provided under the Advisory Platform for Social Outcomes Contracting created in early 2020 and funded by the Advisory Hub. The platform aims to support the development and use of social outcomes contracting methodologies (supported, for example, by social impact bonds and other innovative financing options) as a strategic and operational tool to address social inclusion issues and thus contribute to improving people’s welfare across the EU.

The European Investment Advisory Hub is a partnership between the European Investment Bank Group and the European Commission under the Investment Plan for Europe. The Advisory Hub is designed to act as a single access point to various types of advisory and technical assistance services. It supports the identification, preparation and development of investment projects across the EU. Its advisers work directly with project promoters to prepare a tailor-made advisory package to support investment projects.

Following the publication of the opinion and the list of third-country venues in June 2020, ESMA has received requests from market participants to assess more venues against the criteria set out in the opinion. The review is now finalised and ESMA is publishing:

• an updated annex to the opinion related to post-trade transparency, with the list of venues with a positive or partially positive assessment; and
• additional guidance on the implementation of the list of TCTV venues.

For market participants to automatically process the list of venues included in the annex of both the opinion on transparency and the opinion on position limits, ESMA published them in csv format.

The relevant links related to the opinions and their annexes are now available on a dedicated webpage.