Highlights

  • Report / Paper / Summary
    22
    Oktober
    2025
    This publication discusses how businesses can meet their human rights and environmental responsibilities. It focuses on key elements of mandatory human rights due diligence and presents reflections on principles from international law and EU law. The paper explains why risk-based human rights due diligence is needed and how it should be implemented. It also highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement, access to remedies, and oversight. It aims to inform EU policymakers and stakeholders about ways to effectively promote responsible business conduct and to ensure adequate protection of rightsholders.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    11
    Juli
    2023
    Across the world, human rights defenders protect and uphold human rights in some of the most challenging situations. In some countries they face worrying levels of threats and attacks, intimidation and harassment. This report outlines how human rights defenders can enter and stay in the EU when they need protection. It suggests how EU institutions and Member States could use the flexibility in existing legal provisions and provide shelter for defenders who seek protection.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    19
    Dezember
    2023
    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.
  • Periodic updates / Series
    18
    Oktober
    2023
    Civil society organisations struggle to maintain an environment safe from threats and attacks. FRA’s sixth annual update on civic space explores the challenges for organisations across the EU. While there has been significant development since FRA began monitoring the situation in 2018, civil society organisations remain under immense pressure. Abusive lawsuits and attacks against those involved in migrant search and rescue at sea are just some of the challenges identified. This report presents ways forward to protect civil society and human rights.
    Produkte
    Michael O'Flaherty introduces the July edition of FRA's bulletin on the impact for fundamental rights of Covid-19. In this vlog he talks about the important role that people play who are engaged with the promotion and the protection of human rights in these times.
    The July edition of the COVID-19 bulletin will be available from 30 July.
    24
    Juni
    2020
    Summary version now available
    07 December 2020
    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.
    19
    Juni
    2020
    In 2019, the International Organization for Migration estimated that 1,866 people have died or gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe to escape war or persecution or to pursue a better life. This is an average of five people per day. In recent years, a significant proportion of migrants in distress at sea have been rescued by civil society vessels deployed with a humanitarian mandate to reduce fatalities and bring rescued migrants to safety. Since 2018, however, authorities in some EU Member States started viewing civil society-deployed rescue vessels with hostility. As a reaction, national authorities initiated about 40 administrative and criminal proceedings against crew members or vessels, including seizing the latter. In some cases, rescue vessels were blocked in harbours due to flag issues or the inability to meet technical requirements.
    In his latest vlog Michael O'Flaherty introduces FRA's survey of 35,000 people on attitudes to human and fundamental rights.
    11
    Juni
    2020
    In diesem Fokus wird die Anwendung der Charta der Grundrechte
    der Europäischen Union, die seit zehn Jahren rechtsverbindlich
    ist, näher beleuchtet. Auf EU-Ebene hat sie an Außenwirkung
    gewonnen und Impulse für eine neue Grundrechtekultur
    gesetzt. Auf nationaler Ebene sind der Bekanntheitsgrad und die
    Anwendung der Charta begrenzt. Die Gerichte nutzen die Charta in
    zunehmendem Maße, was deutlich macht, welche Wirkung dieses
    moderne Instrument besitzt. Von Regierungen und Parlamenten
    wird sie jedoch kaum genutzt. So gibt es beispielsweise nur wenige
    Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass die einzelstaatlichen Rechtsvorschriften,
    mit denen EU-Recht umgesetzt wird, regelmäßig daraufhin
    überprüft werden, ob sie mit der Charta im Einklang stehen.
    11
    Juni
    2020
    Das Jahr 2019 brachte beim Schutz der Grundrechte sowohl Fortschritte als auch Rückschritte. In ihrem Grundrechte-Bericht 2020 untersucht die FRA wichtige Entwicklungen auf diesem Gebiet und zeigt sowohl Erfolge auf als auch Bereiche, in denen es immer noch Probleme gibt. Darüber hinaus formuliert die FRA in dieser Veröffentlichung ihre Stellungnahmen zu den wichtigsten Entwicklungen in den abgedeckten Themenbereichen und gibt einen Überblick über die Informationen, die diesen Stellungnahmen zugrunde liegen. So bietet diese Veröffentlichung einen knappen, aber informativen Überblick über die größten Herausforderungen, mit denen die EU und ihre Mitgliedstaaten im Bereich der Grundrechte konfrontiert sind.
    11
    Juni
    2020
    FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2020 reviews major developments in the field in 2019, 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 how to unlock the full potential of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
    Greece needs solid, sustained support and solidarity as it faces great migration challenges, says FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty after 2 days of meetings in Athens with authorities.
    Februar
    2020
    In today’s media landscape the way in which journalists and editors receive, process and publish news is constantly changing. Journalists face immense time pressure, as news frequently breaks online To facilitate training on the coverage of migration news, this Trainer’s Manual is a tool to be used together with the e-Media Toolkit.
    In the latest edition of his video blog, FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty speaks about the importance and power of hope accompanying the work of FRA in 2020. Particularly after a troubled start of the year.
    Check out the EU's modern human rights catalogue and its chapter about Freedoms.
    Check out the EU's modern human rights catalogue and its chapter about Equality.
    Check out the EU's modern human rights catalogue and its chapter about Solidarity.
    The European Union Fundamental Rights Information System EFRIS is a Human Rights Gateway, bringing together data and information from existing human rights databases, and enables viewing and analysis of relevant assessments of fundamental rights in the EU.
    Improve law and policies by always checking the applicability of the Charter!
    Check out the EU's modern human rights catalogue and its chapters starting with Dignity.
    Check out the EU's modern human rights catalogue! The Charter celebrates this year its 10th anniversary since it became legally binding!
    12
    November
    2019
    The Charter is most effective, and has a real impact on people’s lives, when parliaments, governments and courts at local, regional and national levels all actively apply it. The national sphere is particularly relevant. A strong fundamental rights architecture and committed national governments and parliaments are key to letting the Charter unfold its potential at this level. Civil society organisations (CSOs) and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) are also crucial given their contributions to the protection and promotion of Charter rights.
    This video, shot at the recent Human Rights Communicators' Network Workshop, highlights many comments from the inspirational discussions on how elements of FRA's 10 keys to effectively communicate human rights can influence our day-to-day work.
    Talk by Sarah Wishart of Rights Info at the Human Rights Communicators' Workshop held at FRA on 3-4 October 2019.