All EU funds must be spent in a way that respect fundamental rights. The EU spends billions of euros on creating jobs, economic growth, sustainable development and improving people’s lives. To prevent funds from being spent in ways that directly violate people’s fundamental rights, the EU strengthened the conditions how funds can be spent in 2021. This report looks at how the newly introduced conditions related to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be upheld in practice. It analyses the potential role of national human rights institutions, ombudsperson institutions and equality bodies. These safeguards can advance compliance with fundamental rights.
These documents were commissioned under contract by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) as background material for the project ‘Providing technical assistance to national bodies with a human rights remit involved in assessing EU Charter & CRPD compliance of EU funds’. The information and views contained in the document do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA. The document is made publicly available for transparency and information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) play an important role in providing independent human rights protection in EU Member States. Since 2020, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has been tracking the accreditation status and mandates of NHRIs across the EU. The 2025 annual update continues this work. These updates examine whether NHRIs are involved in monitoring compliance with fundamental rights in the use of EU funds, and how they use the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights when advising governments or carrying out education, training, and awareness-raising activities.
In recent years, the EU has taken steps to improve child protection, yet some Member States do not have an integrated approach. FRA first produced an overview of child protection systems in the EU in 2014, and an update in 2023. The data is published in FRA’s ‘Mapping of Child Protection Systems in the EU – Update 2023’. This report completements the 2023 update with comparative analysis and provides greater detail on children in vulnerable situations, care and the participation of children in matters affecting them. It also offers guidance on creating comprehensive frameworks that ensure that children’s rights are respected.
This FRA Position Paper outlines the Agency’s position on the creation of 'return hubs' in non-EU countries for migrants who have been ordered to leave the EU. Considering the serious fundamental rights risks connected with running return hubs, this legal analysis presents the conditions that would have to be met for return hubs to respect fundamental rights and comply with EU law. These include setting up agreements with the host countries and creating independent human rights monitoring mechanisms. The position paper does not examine centres in third countries that process asylum applications.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2024 analyses the year’s developments in fundamental rights. It focuses on the most pressing fundamental rights concerns facing Europe in 2023: the cost-of-living crisis, rights concerns at the EU’s external borders and migration, and threats to democracy. Re-structured, this year’s new approach is a shorter and sharper analysis. It also presents FRA’s opinions on these developments, including a summary of the evidence supporting these opinions.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) continue to play a key role in upholding fundamental rights. FRA keeps track of the accreditation status and the mandates of the NHRIs. In 2022, the NHRI in Cyprus was upgraded to an ‘A-status’ institution. In addition, the mandates of six NHRIs changed to include child protection or the protection of LGBTI people.
This report presents findings from FRA’s 2021 survey on Roma in Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain, as well as in North Macedonia and Serbia. The survey includes interviews with more than 8,400 Roma, collecting information on more than 20,000 individuals living in their households. By focusing on Roma, the survey provides unique data and information that are not available from European general population surveys, which do not disaggregate on grounds of ethnic origin. The findings present a bleak but familiar picture of exclusion, deprivation, discrimination and racism.
This focus looks at the impact of the pandemic on social rights. It examines the measures in national recovery and resilience plans that address the social vulnerabilities among a variety of population groups in the EU, including women, children and young people in situations of vulnerability, people with disabilities, older people, Roma and people in precarious working conditions.
The year 2020 brought both progress and setbacks in terms of fundamental rights protection. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2021 reviews major developments in the field, identifying both achievements and remaining areas of concern. This publication presents FRA’s opinions on the main developments in the thematic areas covered, and a synopsis of the evidence supporting these opinions.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2021 reviews major developments in the field in 2020, identifying both achievements and areas of concern. It also presents FRA’s opinions on these developments, including a synopsis of the evidence supporting these opinions. This year’s focus chapter explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fundamental rights. The remaining chapters cover: the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights; equality and non-discrimination; racism, xenophobia and related intolerance; Roma equality and inclusion; asylum, borders and migration; information society, privacy and data protection; rights of the child; access to justice; and the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are a vital part of the country-level human rights protection system. By raising awareness, providing advice, monitoring and holding authorities to account, they have a central role in navigating the great human rights challenges of our day – tackling both persistent concerns like discrimination and inequality, and novel issues such as the rights implications of artificial intelligence and of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EU is founded on the values of democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights. Yet these values, and discussions on fundamental rights at the EU and Member State level, can seem remote in people’s daily lives. With this in mind, FRA explored what people understand, know and experience with respect to their fundamental rights in practice. The resulting data provide comprehensive and comparable evidence on these aspects.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are a vital part of the country-level human rights protection system. This report, published 10 years after FRA’s first in-depth study on NHRIs, looks at such bodies in the EU, as well as the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Serbia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It explores relevant developments, challenges to their effectiveness and ways to maximise their impact.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey collected data from 35,000 people about their experiences, perceptions and opinions on a range of issues that are variously encompassed by human rights. This report presents a small selection of the survey results. It focuses on findings with respect to respondents’ opinions about human – or fundamental rights; their views and perceptions on the functioning of democratic societies – as a pillar on which human rights can flourish; and on their thoughts on and engagement with public services that have a duty to enforce human rights law and to protect people’s rights.
This opinion underlines the importance of drawing on existing data and information in any assessment of the values in Article 2 TEU, and outlines how this could be done.