Respect for human rights is a universal value embedded in the European Union Treaties. However, the economic crisis has forced Member States to introduce structural reforms, cutting public expenditure and availability of social benefits, for example in the areas of health and education. In this context, he European Parliament commissioned Milieu Ltd to carry out an assessment of the impact of the crisis on fundamental rights across Member States of the European Union. The study looks at seven Member States: Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The focus is on the right to work, right to healthcare, right to a pension, and right to education. Dalila Ghailani is carrying out the Belgian case study while Bart Vanhercke is contributing to the quality control of the project.