While the poor state of French prisons led many to fear a serious health crisis in the wake of Covid-19, the worst of those fears have not materialised. However, the drastic lockdown measures have done nothing to benefit the mental health of detainees. Nor have they led to any serious reevaluation of the system itself.

Prisons make fertile breeding grounds for viruses, yet administrations have revealed little about Covid-19 cases, deaths and vaccinations in Europe’s prisons. Data from 32 countries show the pandemic’s impact on prisons.

Since the beginning of the year, five infringement procedures have been initiated against Italy. Only five countries have kept their numbers lower. The total number of infringements against Italy has dropped to 82. This makes Italy the seventh least problematic EU country in this regard.

The prison population fell in almost all European countries last year. Many detainees were released to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and meanwhile the crime rate also declined. The largest drop in prison numbers was in Turkey. However, in certain countries the incarcerated population increased.

The European Commission has been opening 78 new infringement procedures per month against the member states in 2020. Spain continues to be the country with the largest number of pending procedures (100), closely followed by the UK and Greece.

The discovery in the last few years of large gas reserves in the region has whetted appetites in Ankara, which has been forcefully demanding its piece of the pie, even at the risk of contesting the limits of respective economic zones as well as provoking the EU’s intervention and threatening the region’s stability.

Many member states are struggling to implement regulations and directives enacted by the EU. Data provides insight in their ability to avoid potential infringement procedures and sanctions, and to maintain ties with the EU.  

InfringEye, EDJNet’s tool for exploring current litigations between the European Commission and EU member states, has been updated to include the latest data. We offer an overview of the last ten months, and the ability to download datasets for each member state. 

InfringEye is a data-driven tool developed by EDJNet, making it easier for journalists and citizens to understand the EU's infringement mechanisms, and to monitor past and ongoing procedures. Here are some of the main findings.