Racial Discrimination and COVID-19 in the European Union

Abstract

Repercussions of global crises can often be seen in the fact that many legal issues arise or become even more complex, while this is also true when speaking about the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, the analysis of the effects of such crisis is of great importance during the peak of the crisis, but also afterwards, in the context shaped by the (previous) crisis. In light of the mentioned, the widely present issue of discrimination in the world of work has become even more present during the crisis caused by the COVID-19, and discrimination based on race and ethnicity is no exception in this regard. From patients refusing to be treated by doctors because of their race to increased poverty rates, one may infer that impacts of the mentioned crisis have brought injustice and inequality based on race and ethnic background to the forefront of public eye all over the world, including the European Union. In that sense, the paper deals with the legal framework of importance, but also the existence and implications of racial and ethnic discrimination in practice, especially during and after the pandemic, i.e., analyzes this issue as the issue of “law and beyond”.