This publication is an excerpt from the Fundamental Rights Report 2025, the annual report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). It presents selected critical developments in fundamental rights in 2024, as well as the key findings and FRA opinions from the report’s chapters.
The Fundamental Rights Report 2025 is the annual report of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). It provides an overview of the state of fundamental rights in the EU and highlights selected critical developments and trends in 2024. The report covers issues such as inclusive elections, gender-based violence, and the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. It presents FRA’s opinions on these developments, setting out the actions that the EU and Member States should take. This annual publication is a valuable resource for those seeking to stay informed about the EU’s shifting landscape of fundamental rights.
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.
The year 2023 brought both progress and setbacks in terms of fundamental rights protection. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2023 reviews 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. In so doing, it provides a compact but informative overview of the main fundamental rights challenges confronting the EU and its Member States.
Children’s rights exist to ensure the safety and wellbeing of every child. Improved child protection systems ensure that these rights are met. In recent years, the EU has taken significant steps to improve child protection systems. This mapping of child protection systems gives an overview of the state of such systems at national level and developments since 2015. It promotes the improvement of integrated child protection systems. It is an update of FRA’s mapping of child protection systems in 2015, based on data collected in 2023 in the 27 EU Member States. By publishing this, FRA aims to support securing the sustainable well-being, safety and rights of all children living in the EU.
FRA's first Being Black in the EU report exposed widespread and entrenched racism against people of African descent in Europe. Now updated with new data, this report revisits the situation revealing persistent racial discrimination, harassment and violence. Overall, experiences of racial discrimination increased in the EU countries since 2016, reaching as high as 77%. The lack of progress is alarming despite binding anti-discrimination law in the EU since 2000 and significant EU policy developments since then.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine posed new challenges for the EU. Millions were forced to flee the war. As a result of the scale of people’s displacement, the EU activated for the first time the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). More than 1.3 million children sought international protection in the EU. This bulletin explores the respect, protection and fulfilment of the fundamental rights of displaced children and ways to safeguard their rights. The third in a series, this bulletin builds on the evidence in FRA’s Bulletin #1 and #2 on the experiences of displaced people seeking safety in the EU.
Europe’s ageing population is ever-increasing, and our societies are becoming more digitalised. Many public services are now available online, with many more services in the process of being digitalised. But the digitalisation of public services poses a risk of exclusion for older persons. In this new report, FRA explores the impact of digitalisation on the fundamental rights of older persons. The report maps the current legislation, policies and practices fostering digital inclusion. It provides an overview of the laws at the national level that provide for equal access to public services, both online and offline. The findings show how Member States safeguard older person’s rights to access services undergoing digitalisation. It outlines how Member States can support digital skills and ensure older people can fully participate in public life.
Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in massive internal and external population displacement. The European Union (EU) rapidly activated its Temporary Protection Directive for the first time since it was adopted in 2001. This entitled nearly 4 million people to legal residence and access to work, housing and legal assistance, education and healthcare.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2023 reviews major developments in the field in 2022, 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.
The year 2022 brought both progress and setbacks in terms of fundamental rights protection. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2023 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.
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.
** As of 19 September 2024 a new version of this guidance has been issued. Please see the link below. **
Fundamental rights monitoring at EU external borders should be systematically and regularly carried out for a range of border management activities. These include border surveillance, apprehensions at land, sea and air borders, and the operation of referral mechanisms, including in the event of mass arrivals. This general guidance provides assistance to EU Member States in setting up national independent mechanisms to monitor fundamental rights compliance at EU external borders, in line with the proposed screening regulation of 23 September 2020 by the European Commission. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights prepared this guidance at the request of the Commission.
Civil society organisations face diverse challenges across the European Union. FRA’s report on Protecting civic space in the EU presents the agency’s findings on these challenges. It was issued in September of 2021. This summary presents the Key findings and FRA opinions outlined in the report.
Since September 2021, two National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) had a change in their accreditation status, one applied for accreditation and five have had a change in tasks covered by their mandates. This new 2022 update provides an overview of developments in the accreditation status and mandates of NHRIs from September 2021 to May 2022. It is a follow up of FRA’s 2020 report on ‘Strong and effective national human rights institutions – challenges, promising practices and opportunities’ and the September 2021 update. It covers the 27 EU Member States and three candidate countries (Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia).
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2022 reviews major developments in the field in 2021, 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.
The year 2021 brought both progress and setbacks in terms of fundamental rights protection. FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2022 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 Opinion 1/21 illustrates the extent and nature of lived experiences of inequality and discrimination across the EU. It does so with reference to the grounds of discrimination and areas of life covered by the racial and employment equality directives, as well as by the proposed Equal Treatment Directive. It was issued on 30 April 2021. This summary presents the main recommendations (‘Key findings and opinions’) outlined in FRA Opinion 1/21.
Since September 2020, three National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) had a change in their accreditation status, two new institutions were created and nine have had a change in tasks covered by their mandates. Following up on the September 2020 report “Strong and effective national human rights institutions – challenges, promising practices and opportunities”, this update provides an overview of developments in the accreditation status and mandates of NHRIS in the past 12 months. The update covers the 27 EU Member States as well as three additional states within FRA’s mandate (Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia).
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.