How our work is used

The work of the FRA is used by various stakeholders including, but not limited to, the institutions and bodies of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the UN, the OSCE and other international organisations. A selection of examples is given below.

European Parliament
Document Title Date Area Abstract
EP - Plenary sitting - Report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (2010 - 2011) (2011/2069(INI)) 12/12/2012 FRA mandate

..."L.  whereas the May 2012 joint study by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank on the situation of the Roma confirms that the Roma suffer discrimination throughout Europe and that their situation is worse than that of all non-Roma in comparable situations; whereas the discrimination and increased violence against them in EU Member States are rooted in latent anti-Gypsy attitudes,"...
..."6. Calls on the Commission – and the Council, where it initiates legislation – to make systematic use of external independent expertise, notably from the Fundamental Rights Agency, during the preparation of impact assessments;"...
..."138. Recalls that access to health care is a fundamental right and calls, in particular, on Member States to make this right accessible in practice, including for irregular migrants, especially pregnant women and minors, thus taking up the concerns expressed by the Agency for Fundamental Rights in its report of 11October 2011;"...

Opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs on Corporate Social Responsibility 05/12/2012 FRA mandate

Suggestions

..."6. Calls for greater policy coherence to be established at EU level by bringing public procurement, export credit, good governance, competition, development, trade, investment and other policies and agreements into conformity with the international human rights, social and environmental standards laid down in the relevant OECD and UN guidelines and principles:"..."recalls, while recognising the significance of the UN human rights framework for CSR, the importance of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including Article 16 thereof, which guarantees the fundamental right to conduct a business, a right that should be duly taken into account and serve as a reference to support CSR policies in the EU; underlines the importance of balancing the freedom to conduct business with other rights guaranteed by the Charter, as well as with internationally recognised CSR principles and guidelines; welcomes, in this connection, the efforts of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to collect evidence and expertise concerning the existence and interpretation of the freedom to conduct business;"

EP Study: Evaluating current and forthcoming proposals on JHA databases and a smart borders system at EU external borders 01/11/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

p. 53
..."4.2.2. Statistical surveillance and statistical discrimination
JHA Databases and smart borders work on the basis of ‘automated decision making’ parameters, which correspond with what has been denominated as ‘profiling’ or ‘predictive data-mining’ in the EU security field (Hildebrandt and Gutwirth, 2008)."..."In the field of law enforcement more concretely, profiling is used ‘to select’ a group of people as a potential risk or a threat – such as ‘high risk travellers’, ‘suspicious traveller’, the visa ‘over-stayer’, etc, which may lead to discriminatory ethnic profiling (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) (2010), Towards More Effective Policing – Understanding and Preventing Discriminatory Ethnic Profiling: A Guide, Vienna, 2010)."

EP Study: Towards an EU roadmap for equality on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity 15/10/2012 LGBT rights

page 15/16:

..."The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has an important role in collecting data on LGBTI experiences to assist the development of policy tailored to LGBTI needs. The box below lists some of the reports on LGBTI concerns prepared by the FRA to date, and currently under preparation." ...
..."The FRA also plays an important role in training among EU and Member State officials. It organises roundtables and expert workshops to this effect, including for example a roundtable on rights of transgender people (22-23 September 2011) which brought together representatives of the EU institutions, international organisations, national governments, equality bodies and civil society organisations."...

European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2012 on the fight against homophobia in Europe (2012/2657(RSP)) 24/05/2012 LGBT rights

Situation in the European Union

..."5. Draws attention to the findings of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in its report ‘Homophobia, transphobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity'; calls on the Commission and Member States to implement the opinions contained therein to the greatest possible extent;"...

European Parliament / DG Internal Policies " EU Framework of Law for children Rights" April 2012 01/04/2012 Rights of the child

p. 24
... "In a report by the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (FRA), the FRA has developed indicators for the protection, respect and promotion of children's rights in the
Union on the basis of EU competence in this area. These indicators cover such areas as family environment and alternative care, protection from exploitation and violence,
education, citizenship and cultural activities, and adequate standard of living."...

p. 32
... "In July 2007 the Commission asked the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) to develop indicators measuring the respect, protection and promotion of the rights of the child for use in future research on the impact of EU activities on children."...

European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2012 on the 2011 progress report on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - provi 14/03/2012 Discrimination

... "40. Welcomes the establishment of an Anti-Discrimination Commission this year and calls for the European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency and in the Equinet Network of European independent anti-discrimination agencies to fully support and cooperate with its work; welcomes the fact that three complaints of alleged discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation brought forward by the Coalition for Sexual and Health Rights are being investigated by the Commission;".....

European Parliament / Annual report on equality between women and men in the European Union - 2012 05/03/2012 LGBT rights

... "-having regard to the Fundamental Rights Agency’s Report on Homophobia, Transphobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity (2010),"....

 

European Parliament resolution of 15 December 2011 on detention conditions in the EU (2011/2897(RSP)) 15/02/2012 Access to justice

... "3. Calls on the Commission and the Fundamental Rights Agency to monitor the situation as regards detention conditions in the EU, and support the Member States in their efforts to ensure that their laws and policies are consistent with the highest standards in the field(19)" ...

EP resolution on the recent political development in Hungary (PE483.154v01-00) 14.02.2012 14/02/2012 FRA mandate

..."(6) Instructs the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, in cooperation with the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission, to follow up the issue of whether and how the recommendations of the Commission and the European Parliament set out in point 4 of this resolution have been implemented and to present its findings in a report; (para.6)

European Parliament resolution of 14 December 2011 on the EU Counter-Terrorism Policy: main achievements and future challenges ( 14/12/2011 Data protection

..."25. Stresses that a proper evaluation of ten years of counter-terrorism policies should focus on examining whether the measures taken to prevent and combat terrorism in the EU have been evidence-based (and not based on assumptions), needs-driven, coherent and part of a comprehensive EU counter-terrorism strategy , based on an in-depth and complete appraisal, to be carried out in line with Article 70 of the TFEU, with the Commission reporting back to a Joint Parliamentary Meeting of the European Parliament and national parliamentary committees responsible for overseeing counter-terrorism activities within six months of the study being commissioned, drawing upon reports to be requested from relevant organisations and agencies such as Europol, Eurojust, the Fundamental Rights Agency, the European Data Protection Supervisor, the Council of Europe and the United Nations;"

..."43. Calls on the European Data Protection Supervisor and the Fundamental Rights Agency to report on the level of protection of fundamental rights and personal data in the field of EU Counter-Terrorism Policy;"...

UN, OSCE and other international organisations
Document Title Date Area Abstract
CMW – Draft general comment No. 2 on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families 01/12/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

C. Protection of economic, social and cultural rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families (Part III)
3. Right to urgent medical care (art. 28)
..."65. The Committee concurs with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that access to urgent medical care must be ensured to all migrant workers on the basis of equality of treatment with nationals and thus on a non-discriminatory basis.  Although medical care must not necessarily be free of charge, equality of treatment requires that the same rules for payment of fees or exemption from payment apply to migrant workers and members of their families as to nationals (See European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Fundamental rights of migrants in an irregular situation in the European Union (November 2011), p. 12. )."...
4.         Right to education (art. 30)
..."69. Article 30 states that access to public preschool educational institutions or schools shall not be refused or limited by reason of the irregular situation of the child or of either parent. In particular, States parties shall not require schools to report data on the regular or irregular status of pupils or their parents to immigration authorities or conduct immigration enforcement operations on or near school premises (See European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Fundamental rights of migrants in an irregular situation in the European Union (November 2011), p. 92.), as this would limit migrant children’s access to education."...

OHCHR: Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to Measurement and Implementation 07/11/2012 Discrimination

..."Box 23. Measuring discrimination
Some useful statistical tools [...] are:"
..."

  • Population surveys measuring experiences, perceptions and attitudes regarding discrimination (e.g., percentage of members of ethnic minorities reporting racially motivated victimization and discrimination by public/private personnel); (See, for instance, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, EU-MIDIS: European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (2009). Available from fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/minorities/minorities_en.htm.)"...
     

 

ECtHR - Judgment / Case Yordanova and Others v. Bulgaria - Application no. 25446/06 24/09/2012 Roma

.... "80. In October 2009 the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights issued a comparative report on the housing conditions of Roma and travellers in the EU.

81. According to the report, significant numbers of Roma in Europe live in unauthorised settlements. For example, in 2002 an estimated 70% of houses in urban Romani developments in Bulgaria were illegally built, in 1999 in Greece approximately 63,000 Roma lived in unregulated encampments and in 2008 in France most Roma groups lived in squalid shantytowns.

82. The report also mentioned cases of forced evictions of such encampments, in particular in Italy and Greece." ...
 

International Juvenile Justice Observatory - Press Room 31/05/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

..."Recognizing the importance of networking and dialogue opportunities that the Platform offers, OIJJ works closely with the FRA to include juvenile justice issues in the European agenda and participates actively in the activities of the FRP. This year's meeting focused on the victims' rights, the phenomena of under-reporting and multiple discrimination experienced by the victims. "...

..."The OIJJ recognizes the crucial importance of the work on EU and Council of Europe level and coordination between the stakeholders, both civil society and the regional power structures. Also, as this list of recent success demonstrates, those are the fora where the cause of Global Juvenile Justice can be brought forward and seen to trickle down to national level."...

Roma Early Childhood Inclusion - report 06/03/2012 Roma

p.12
..."The social exclusion of the Roma is greatly reinforced by the discrimination and prejudice of the majority population. The National Reports and various European surveys (notably the Gallup Poll organised by EU Fundamental Rights Agency in 2009 and the EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS, 2009) testify to the widespread prejudice against Roma groups in the four countries. Prejudice ranges from negative stereotyping to political extremism, with threatening marches on neighbourhoods, used to injure, intimidate or evict Roma residents.)."...

p.23
..."Roma families still endure grinding poverty and anintolerable health and housing situation. In some domains, such as employment and the segregation of Roma children in special education, their situation has actually worsened in the past ten years. For example, in a survey organised by the European Fundamental Rights Agency, 17 per cent of Roma interviewed indicated that they had experienced discrimination by public health-care personnel in the previous twelve months."...

12th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against 05/02/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

 p.8
..."23. The little research and few statistics available on the victimization of migrants present one unequivocal finding: members of minorities, whether nationals or members of an ethnic minority, or of foreign origin or non-nationals, are currently overrepresented in the criminal justice system, both as offenders and victims. When data are available, they suggest that migrants fall victim to a wide variety of crimes that often go unreported."...

p.9
..."24. Victimization rates are usually higher among migrants than among nationals (sometimes disproportionately higher, by a factor of six or more) for both property crimes and violent crimes. For example, in the 27 member States of the European Union, one in every four persons belonging to a minority group was a victim of crime at least once in 2008. In Europe, migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are the most victimized. On average, minorities in general are victims of personal theft, assault or threats of violence more often than the majority population."...

p.11
..."38. Crime aside, there are many other forms of violence directed at migrants which could be categorized as discrimination. Migrants usually suffer high levels of discriminatory treatment. A European study, for instance, shows that discrimination, in the areas of education and employment is particularly problematic for some groups, hindering their access to opportunities in those areas.38 This is a significant finding in that education and paid employment hold the key to successful integration and social inclusion."...

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, EU-MIDIS European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey: Main Results Report, (Vienna, 2009)

UN - General Assembly A/HR/19/41 17.11.2011 - Discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence 17/11/2011 LGBT rights

p.11
..."A 2011 report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that lesbian and bisexual women are more likely to experience sexual and other assaults in private settings than gay or bisexual men, who are more likely to be attacked by unknown perpetrators. The perpetrators are usually young men in groups."...

Homophobia, Transphobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the EU Member States: Summary of Findings, Trends, Challenges and Promising Practices", European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Vienna, 2011, p. 13.

p.17 - VI. Discriminatory practices. A. Discrimination in employment.
..."53. Discrimination can lead to harassment and violence within and outside workplace confines.95 Surveys indicate that verbal harassment of LGBT employees is commonplace."...

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, "Homophobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Part II - the Social Situation", 2009, Vienna, pp. 63-64.

Guidelines for educators on countering intolerance / OSCE 2011 28/10/2011 FRA mandate

FRA, as an advisory body, helps to ensure that the fundamental rights of people living in the EU are protected. It collects evidence about the situation of fundamental rights across the European Union and provides advice, based on evidence, about how to improve the situation. The FRA also informs people about their fundamental rights, including in relation to combating intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. It has issued several reports on intolerance and discrimination against Muslims in the EU.

European Commission
Document Title Date Area Abstract
SWD (2012) 281 final - Commission Staff working document - on the implementation of the Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors 28/09/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

I. INTRODUCTION
p.3
Document is based on information provided by the European Commission, European External Actions Service (EEAS), the EU Agencies – European Asylum Support Office (EASO), Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and Frontex – and 24 Member States.
p.6
In 2011, Frontex conducted the joint operation Hammer at air borders, which focused on trafficking and irregular migration involving children. IOM, UNHCR, FRA, and EASO were involved in the development of operational guidelines on how to deal with children at the external borders in order to present best practice and possible indicators of irregular migration involving children. The organisations participated in most operational briefings making presentations, together with Frontex staff, on the guidelines recommending how to deal with children.

IV. RECEPTION AND PROCEDURAL GUARANTEES
IV.1.4. Actions in other areas
p.43
On the basis of Article 5 of the Co-operation Arrangement between Frontex and FRA, the FRA developed a fundamental rights training programme for Frontex staff, which covers child protection with a focus on unaccompanied or separated asylum-seeking children and survivors of torture and who need special treatment. The aim is to enhance Frontex staff’s skills on child protection so that they consider this in their projects and activities.

COM(2012) 286 final - The EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016 19/06/2012 Rights of the child

2.1. PRIORITY A: Identifying, protecting and assisting victims of trafficking
p.7 (3) Action 3: Protection of Child Victims of Trafficking
..."In addition, with respect to child trafficking, there is at present no uniform definition of a guardian and/or representative across the Member States and their roles, qualifications and understanding of competences vary from one Member State to another. In 2014, together with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Commission intends to develop a best practice model on the role of guardians and/or representatives of child victims of trafficking."...

2.4. PRIORITY D: Enhanced coordination and cooperation among key actors and policy coherence
p.13 (5) Action 5: Strengthen the fundamental rights in anti-trafficking policy and related
actions
..."Important work has also been done by various organisations and bodies, namely the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Council of Europe. Moreover, a tool for civil society organisations to assess policy and legislation on trafficking in human beings and a tool to give guidance on fundamental rights in Commission impact assessments have been developed.

To strengthen existing instruments, and building upon its past and on-going work on trafficking, in 2014 the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, will start to develop a tool, such as a handbook or a guide, to assist Member States in addressing fundamental rights issues specifically related to anti-trafficking policy and related actions, which will take into account relevant structures, processes, and outcomes and will focus on the rights of victims, incorporating a gender perspective and the best interests of the child. As a next step, the Commission will, through the future justice funding programmes assist Member States in implementing this tool."...

Opinion on a possible EU awareness raising campaign on violence against women and girls (VAWG) - EC - EU Advisory Committee 23/05/2012 Gender

RECOMMENDATIONS
C. Recommendations for a campaign

  • Framework for the EU Campaign
  • Ensure that the European Commission’s work is linked with and does not duplicate the work of other European Agencies, in particular the FRA and the EIGE.
COM(2012) 226 final - Communication of 21 May 2012 on National Roma Integration Strategies: a first step in the implementation o 21/05/2012 Roma

p.16 
4. The way forward

  • Monitor transformation and enable policy adjustment

..."The EU's Fundamental Rights Agency will continue its surveys across the EU and work closely with the Member States to support them in developing robust national monitoring systems."...

 

SPEECH/12/358 - A need for strong European leadership to combat discrimination, Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner respons 15/05/2012 LGBT rights

...The Commission has also asked the Fundamental Rights Agency to conduct a survey to obtain a complete picture on the discrimination, hate speech and hate crime against LGBTI people in all EU Member States.
I suspect that the results of the survey will make it obvious that we also need a comprehensive strategy within the EU to be able to really address the problems and improve the situation."... 

SPEECH/12/316 - Strong and independent data protection authorities: the bedrock of the EU's data protection reform 03/05/2012 Data protection

"In last year's annual report of the Working Party, the Commission therefore introduced clear indicators that should allow us to assess the current level of funding [of Data Protection Authorities] and draw comparisons. The Fundamental Rights Agency has also carried out a very useful study."
...
"I am also willing to support you on this on the basis of similar experiences the Commission has made in other sectors of regulation, such as energy, telecoms, or competition. And finally, I am also prepared to intensify the work with the Fundamental Rights Agency."...

 

COM(2012) 169 final - 2011 Report on the Application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights 16/04/2012 Racism, xenophobia & related intolerance

"According to the 2011 Annual Report of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, '10 of the 12 Member States, which publish sufficient criminal justice data on racist crime to be able to undertake an analysis of trends, experienced an upward trend in recorded racist crime' during the period 2000-2009." ...

Commission Decision of 14 February 2012 setting up the Commission expert group on policy needs for data on crime and repealing D 15/02/2012 FRA mandate

..."Article 4 - Membership - appointment"

"1. The group shall be composed of a maximum of 55 members. The members shall be:"
... 
"(b) the following EU bodies, networks and agencies: the European Crime Prevention Network (EUCPN), the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Eurojust, the European Police Office (Europol), the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) and the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA);" ...

Article on theparliament.com - Violence against women: Viviane Reding 23/11/2011 Gender

"Reliable data would allow us to assess the real extent of the problem and to find appropriate solutions. The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) is currently working on an EU-wide survey on violence against women that will be presented in 2013.

The survey’s main objective is to provide reliable and comparable data on women’s experiences of various types of physical, sexual and psychological violence by current and former partners and non-partners to enable the commission to take the appropriate follow-up."

Council of Europe
Document Title Date Area Abstract
Report by by Nils Muižnieks Commissioner on Human Rights Following his visit to Finland from 11 to 13 June 2012 25/09/2012 Discrimination

2. Non-discrimination and reform of equal treatment legislation
2.1 Current protection framework and reform of equal treatment legislation

"57. .... The 2009 EU-MIDIS Survey carried out by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) pointed out that 27% of Russians in Finland felt discriminated against in the past 12 months, the highest score of the countries surveyed (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). 27% of the incidents were reported to the authorities. Work-related discrimination was the most common type of incident. 12% of Russian-speakers reported that they had been victims of racially-motivated crime and 2% perceived that they had been victims of racial profiling by the police. According to police statistics, 38 persons born in Russia had been victims of suspected racist crime in Finland in 2010 (4% of all cases)." ... 

ECRI report on Sweden adopted on 19 June 2012, published on 25 September 2012 25/09/2012 Discrimination

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Other sources

42. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Antisemitism: Summary overview of the situation in the European Union 2001-2010: Working Paper, Vienna, April 2011
43. FRA, Fundamental rights of migrants in an irregular situation in the European Union, Comparative report, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, November 2011
44. FRA, Migrants in an irregular situation: access to healthcare in 10 European Union Member States, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2011
45. FRA, Separated, asylum-seeking children in European Union Member States: Comparative Report, Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, November 2010
46. FRA, Migrants, minorities and employment: Exclusion and discrimination in the 27 Member States of the European Union: Update 2003-2008, Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2011
47. FRA, Detention of third-country nationals in return procedures: Thematic Report, Conference Edition, Vienna, September 2010
48. FRA, The Racial Equality Directive: application and challenges, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2012
49. FRA, Sweden RAXEN National Focal Point, Thematic Study, Housing Conditions of Roma and Travellers, March 2009

Committee of Ministers - 1144 DH Meeting (4-6 June 2012) - volume de décisions et mémorandum arrêt M.S.S. 29/05/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

II. Greece: assessment of the action plan
A. Response to the violations of Article 3 resulting from the conditions of detention
i) Conditions of detention of asylum seekers
3) Assessment by the Secretariat

..."25. The Committee of Ministers could also welcome the efforts aimed at improving detention conditions in the Evros region (Footnote 16 - In that respect, it could be borne in mind that the situation in Evros was characterised as "a humanitarian crisis, see European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, "Coping with a fundamental rights emergency. The situation of persons crossing the Greek land border in a irregular manner", Thematic situation report, March 2011.)"...

 

ECRI Report on Denmark (fourth monitoring cycle) 22/05/2012 Discrimination

p.17
..."26. ... Moreover, for the first time, the [Danish Security and Intelligence Service] PET combined its hate crime cases with those from the various regional and national police registries. According to the police, hate-crime victims included "Jews and people of an ethnic origin other than Danish" (mostly African or Middle Eastern ethnic groups)"...
[Civil society sources indicate that during the period 2005-2008, 10% of the population experienced hate crime based on racism. The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) indicated in an EU-wide survey carried out in 2008 that 31% of Somalis in Denmark have experienced intimidating harassment, threats and physical attacks.]

 

Annual report on ECRI's activities - covering the period from 1 January to 31 December 2011 01/05/2012 FRA mandate

p.17
..."26. ... Moreover, for the first time, the [Danish Security and Intelligence Service] PET combined its hate crime cases with those from the various regional and national police registries. According to the police, hate-crime victims included "Jews and people of an ethnic origin other than Danish" (mostly African or Middle Eastern ethnic groups)"...
[Civil society sources indicate that during the period 2005-2008, 10% of the population experienced hate crime based on racism. The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) indicated in an EU-wide survey carried out in 2008 that 31% of Somalis in Denmark have experienced intimidating harassment, threats and physical attacks.]

The impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe - Reply to Recommendation 1982 (2011) 05/04/2012 FRA mandate

... "7. On the basis of the agreement concluded in 2008 between the Council of Europe and the European Community, synergies have also been established between the Organisation and the Agency for Fundamental Rights of the EU (FRA) and will be further developed, including in the areas of children's rights, migration and asylum. Progress made in this respect is regularly reviewed by the GR-EXT." ...

CoE Commissioner Human Rights - Human rights of Roma and Travellers in Europe 2012 / 01/03/2012 Roma

... "In its document on'Understanding and preventing discriminatory ethnic profiling' of October 2010, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency has noted that 'profiling can become problematic if there is no specific intelligence to help identify individual suspects, and profiles are based on broad characteristics, such as race, ethnicity or religion rather
than behaviour'"....

..."The European Union Fundamental Rights Agency recently noted the following with respect to the involvement of Roma as perpetrators of trafficking:
... media sources have often made references to ‘Roma criminality', usually in the context of trafficking or petty crime. Given the paucity of relevant criminal justice data disaggregated by ethnic origin, such references raise important questions as to the validity of this type of information and its impact on Roma stereotypes and prejudice. In light of the vulnerability of the Roma to criminal victimization, particularly in regard to trafficking, further investigation based on robust and reliable information is therefore necessary."...

ECRI report for Luxembourg (adopted on 08.12.2011 and published 21.02.2012) 21/02/2012 Racism, xenophobia & related intolerance

p. 14
17. ... "Moreover, according to the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union (FRA), racism is not appropriately punished in Luxembourg" ...

p. 25
77. ""Furthermore, for the years 2008 and 2009 the European Union's Agency for Fundamental Rights placed Luxembourg in the group of countries where the criminal justice machinery for collecting official data on racist crime and violence was of limited quality." ....

Issue Paper CommDH/IssuePaper(2012)2: "WHO GETS TO DECIDE? Right to legal capacity for persons with intellectual and psychosocia 20/02/2012

... "Other rights are affected as well, including the right to work, to marry and to political participation. A recent report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) shows that the majority of EU member states links the right to political participation to the legal capacity of the individual. As a result, these countries have an automatic or quasi-automatic provision in their legal systems excluding persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities whose legal capacity has been restricted from the right to vote. And this is regardless of whether these individuals actually understand the idea of voting or not."...

 

Council of the European Union
Document Title Date Area Abstract
EU statement at the thematic debate “Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity” - Committee of Ministe 18/09/2012 LGBT rights

.... "The EU strongly supports the Council of Europe's action aiming at combating all forms of discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons. The EU is ready to strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe in this field - as it is mentioned in the EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy – on the basis of complementarity. In particular the EU is prepared to develop a strategy on how to cooperate with third countries, including within the Council of Europe.

Concerning possible cooperation measures, the EU welcomes the Secretary General's suggestion contained in document SG/Inf(2012)24 to expand to all Council of Europe's member states the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s methodology on LGBT data collection."
 

Council of the European Unon - 13847/12 Note from Presidency - Apprehension of migrants in an irregular situation 18/09/2012 Asylum, immigration & integration of migrants

Delegations will find attached a series of considerations from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights concerning the apprehension of immigrants in an irregular situation.

Council conclusions on the 2011 report from the Commission 26/06/2012 FRA mandate

.."10. The data collected by the Fundamental Rights Agency on specific thematic topics and opinions given in accordance with its mandate remain an important tool for the EU institutions and its Member States in many matters related to the implementation of EU law. The Council appreciates the role of the Agency in raising awareness about when the Charter applies and about where to turn to when fundamental rights have been violated, including through the further development of its dedicated Charterpedia web-database and application.

11. Bearing in mind the invitation made in the Stockholm Program, the Council encourages all EU institutions and the Member States to make full use of the expertise of the Agency and to consult with the Agency, where appropriate and in line with its mandate, on the development of legislation and policies with implications for fundamental rights. Furthermore, the Council invites the Agency, in the reports drafted with its thematic areas, to take into account how the Charter is being applied. The Council finally reiterates its commitment to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Agency's annual reports and, where appropriate, other reports, in the Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens' Rights and Free Movement of Persons or in other preparatory bodies of the Council, depending on the subject matter of the report."...

Subscribe to FRA - How our work is used