News Item

The role of civil society in applying the EU Fundamental Rights Charter

On 10 June, FRA was part of the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) joint hearing supporting the mid-term review of the Commission’s Strategy on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

In 2020, the European Commission presented its Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU. It sets out measures to increase the role of the EU Charter. Currently, the European Commission is undertaking a mid-term review of this strategy. 

FRA submitted written input to this mid-term review and presented its views in a panel debate in the EESC which contributed to the ongoing review. 

The agency stressed that the Charter, the EU’s bill of rights, can serve as a means to protect civil society while at the same time  civil society can contribute to a better application of the Charter nationally. The agency pointed to the fact that many of its findings of five years ago are still valid. These included those that point at rather low levels of awareness and engagement by civil society actors with the EU Charter. 

To help, FRA offers a range of online tools assisting in the application of the Charter and the promotion of Charter rights.