The Global Monitor is the result of a collaboration between the EU Commission and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). It was my idea that eventually led me to the Commission.

At the beginning of April, after the European Parliament had long since moved to its home office, one thing became increasingly clear: the corona crisis is not just a health crisis, it is developing into a human rights crisis. More and more authoritarian regimes adopted measures that were superficially intended to stop the spread of the virus – but above all to curb fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of the press. We received reports from human rights defenders who were still held in prisons despite the lack of protective measures, from journalists who reported on the Corona crisis and were threatened or imprisoned for it, from police violence against people who broke curfews. Some EU states also excessively restricted basic democratic rights, sometimes without time limits.

At some point it became clear to me: It’s easy to lose track here. Which measures apply? Which ones are justified? Which ones have already been withdrawn? For something like this you need a tool that provides answers quickly and reliably. This is exactly what the “Global Monitor” offers.