Legal Aspects Regarding Online Learning Process for Students at University and Digital Education in European Union: Different Life, Challenges and the Ability to Continue Education during the Pandemic Caused by Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Worldwide, the medical challenge brought by the pandemic caused by SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus (COVID-19/COronaVIrusDisease-2019) is overlapping with the challenge of continuing the educational process in schools and universities and this article highlights the situation regarding the studies at university. In Romania, the courses in school education and higher education have been suspended since March 2020, as a preventive measure against the transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). After the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was declared, in Romania the state of emergency was established in order to limit the infection with coronavirus disease and, for this purpose, measures restricting the free movement off all persons were regulated. In this uncertain and unpredictable context regarding the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on education worldwide, with schools and universities affected by a level of disruption, without precedent in the past, it is essential and imperative for education to continue. This article discusses the need and the possibility of continuing the learning process even if schools and universities are closed and face to face courses are suspended, using online resources, forcing an online education, and also the juridical implications regarding the choice of this path. This article analyzes the online learning process for studies at university during COVID-19 pandemic through correlations with the Digital Education Action Plan adopted by the European Commission.