Equality

Equality, non-discrimination and racism

Equality is a core value of the EU. You have the right to fair treatment regardless of who you are, what you believe, or how you chose to live.

We carry out research and share expertise to help fight discrimination, inequality and racism in all its forms.

Highlights

  • Report / Paper / Summary
    25
    October
    2024
    Racism towards Muslims is increasing in countries across the EU. Muslims face racial discrimination and racist harassment because of their religion, skin colour or ethnic background. This report shows a sharp rise since the last survey in 2016.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    11
    July
    2024
    Antisemitism is still a reality for many Jewish people in the EU today. Faced with prejudice and hostility, most feel unable to live openly Jewish lives. This report presents the results of FRA’s third EU survey of Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of antisemitism. The survey took place before the Hamas attacks in October 2023 and the war in Gaza; however, it includes evidence from a consultation with national and European Jewish umbrella organisations since. It covers 13 EU Member States that together account for around 96 % of the EU’s Jewish population.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    14
    May
    2024
    FRA’s third LGBTIQ survey shows that people still experience hate-motivated violence and discrimination. Trans and intersex people face even greater victimisation. Yet, signs of progress show that the EU’s and Member States’ efforts can positively affect people’s lives. More LGBTIQ people are open about their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    10
    April
    2024
    Racism in the police can include discriminatory racial profiling practices through to excessive use of force. Incidents like these highlight deeper systemic issues that need addressing. Many in society are affected by racism in policing, not only the individuals or communities targeted. Lack of trust in policing can fuel social exclusion and damages the foundations of a fair and equal society, however promising practices are developing to address these issues. This is the first EU-wide report on racism in policing. FRA’s findings identify gaps in regulatory frameworks and propose concrete steps for action.
    Products
    20
    December
    2013
    This thematic situation report examines the effectiveness of responses by public authorities, civil society organisations and others to counter racism, discrimination, intolerance and extremism in Greece and Hungary. The report goes on to make proposals for fighting racist crime, increasing trust in the police, and combating extremism throughout the EU.
    3
    December
    2013
    Police officers who ensure that people are able to exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms earn the respect and trust of the public. With this in mind, this manual sets out to foster such human rights-based police work by integrating human rights training into the heart of police training, in line with the European Union’s goals in the field of justice and home affairs.
    8
    November
    2013
    This FRA survey is the first-ever to collect comparable data on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of antisemitism, hate-motivated crime and discrimination across a number of EU Member States, specifically in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Its findings reveal a worrying level of discrimination, particularly in employment and education, a widespread fear of victimisation and heightening concern about antisemitism online.
    8
    November
    2013
    Jewish people across the European Union (EU) continue to face insults, discrimination, harassment and even physical violence which, despite concerted efforts by both the EU and its Member States, show no signs of fading into the past. Although many important rights are guaranteed legally, widespread and long-standing prejudice continues to hinder Jewish people’s chances to enjoy these rights in reality.
    6
    November
    2013
    The FRA survey is the first-ever to collect comparable data on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of antisemitism, hate-motivated crime and discrimination across a number of EU Member States, specifically in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This technical report gives an overview of the survey methodology, sample and the questionnaire.
    7
    November
    2013
    Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, property damage, graffiti or other forms of text, including hate speech on the internet. The present report – the ninth update of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) overview of Manifestations of antisemitism in the EU – relates to manifestations of antisemitism as they are recorded by official and unofficial sources in the 28 European Union (EU) Member States.
    This 2012 survey provides comparable data from eight countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the UK) on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of discrimination, hate-motivated crime and antisemitism. The data explorer also allows the filtering of responses by age, gender and strength of Jewish identity of respondents.
    22
    October
    2013
    The Opinion assesses the impact of the Framework Decision on the rights of the victims of crimes motivated by hatred and prejudice, including racism and xenophobia.
    1
    October
    2013
    Drawing on evidence gathered in its surveys and reports, FRA submits a set of opinions aimed at improving the protection against discrimination. These could be taken into account in the implementation and the eventual reform of the EU legal framework on the protection against discrimination.
    18
    September
    2013
    This paper provides an analysis of data collected through FRA’s Roma Survey broken down by gender and covering the core areas of employment, education, housing and health, as well as any other gender‐sensitive policy areas. The paper is the result of a request made by the President of the European Parliament to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on 27 June 2013.
    26
    July
    2013
    This report analyses the current international and European legal standards and compares EU Member States’ laws in the area of legal capacity. Evidence from fieldwork research supports the legal analysis, providing eloquent testimony to the obstacles many persons with disabilities face in securing equal enjoyment of their fundamental rights.
    8
    November
    2010
    This report provides the first results from a legal study carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in the context of its project on the "Fundamental rights of persons with intellectual disabilities and persons with mental health problems".
    26
    January
    2010
    In 2009, the FRA conducted the first EU-wide study of the role that European memorial sites, museums and exhibitions play with respect to educating young Europeans about the Holocaust and human rights. The findings of the study were presented at a Conference in Auschwitz on the 27 January bringing together Education Ministers from across Europe.
    1
    November
    2010
    The development of indicators for the protection, respect and promotion of the rights of the child in the European Union by the FRA aims at assessing the impact of Union law and policies that have been adopted so far, identifying their achievements and revealing their gaps on EU provisions for children.

    21
    March
    2011
    The Handbook on European non-discrimination law is jointly produced by the European Court of Human Rights and the FRA. It is a comprehensive guide to non-discrimination law and relevant key concepts.
    18
    June
    2013
    This year’s summary of the FRA Annual report – Highlights 2012 – puts the spotlight on key legal and policy developments in the field of fundamental rights in 2012.
    18
    June
    2013
    Against a backdrop of rising unemployment and increased deprivation, this FRA Annual report closely examines the situation of those, such as children, who are vulnerable to budget cuts, impacting important fields such as education, healthcare and social services. It looks at the discrimination that Roma continue to face and the mainstreaming of elements of extremist ideology in political and public discourse. It considers the impact the crises have had on the basic principle of the rule of law, as well as stepped up EU Member State efforts to ensure trust in justice systems.
    17
    May
    2013
    In light of a lack of comparable data on the respect, protection and fulfilment of the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launched in 2012 its European Union (EU) online survey of LGBT persons’ experiences of discrimination, violence and harassment.
    This major online survey, carried out in 2012, collected information from more than 93,000 LGBT people in the EU on their experiences of discrimination, violence, verbal abuse or hate speech on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The data explorer also allows the filtering of responses by age, sexual orientation and country of residence.
    8
    May
    2013
    Many of us enjoy and take pride in supporting sports clubs and teams. Nevertheless, racism, xenophobia and antisemitism continue to blight sport. These phenomena persist in many sports, but tend to be most visible in football due to its popularity, its coverage and the number of people engaged in the sport at all levels.
    On 14 July, FRA was invited to contribute to the reflection of the Working Party on Social Question of the EU Council.
    On 16 July, FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty presented the results of the LGBTI survey to the LIBE Committee of the European Parliament.
    On 7 July, the EU CRPD Framework met Commissioner Helena Dalli (Equality) to discuss the future European Disability Strategy and ways of reinforcing the CRDP Framework in the future.
    On 3 July, FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty participated in a panel discussion about racism and discrimination in the EU.
    FRA Director spoke at the Equality2020: 20 Years of Equality Bodies conference, on 29 June.
    Many older people in care homes fell victim to COVID-19. Many also faced months of isolation and restrictions often harsher than those enforced for other parts of the population. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) looks at how the pandemic affected the rights of older people. It highlights the need for a rights-based approach as governments shape their exit strategies.
    On Saturday, 27 June, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) joins the Global Pride - a virtual event that allows the LGBTI+ community to come together and celebrate diversity and equality during these challenging times. FRA takes this opportunity to renew its call on EU countries to step up their efforts and put in place lasting measures protecting the rights of LGBTI people across Europe.
    FRA spoke at the annual meeting of the EU Framework for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and ENNHRI’s Working Group on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 22 June.
    On 12 June, FRA participated in the first project board meeting for the Creating system for quantitative data collection to evaluate the situation of Roma in the Czech Society project.
    Growing intolerance and attacks on people’s fundamental rights continue to erode the considerable progress achieved over the years, finds FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2020. As Europe begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic we see a worsening of existing inequalities and threats to societal cohesion.
    FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty presented insights from the agency’s Roma and Travellers survey and its second minorities and discrimination survey during a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on 4 June.
    Racist harassment, violence and discriminatory ethnic profiling are commonplace in Europe. Following the current protests that are spreading across the continent, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) calls on EU Member States to step up their efforts and effectively fight discrimination, harassment and violence against black people.
    We, the Diplomatic Missions of Albania, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, as well as the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the EU Delegation to the International Organisations in Vienna, UN GLOBE Vienna and the Vienna School of International Studies, welcome the 17th May as the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, as a celebration of diversity and inclusion around the world.
    More lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people are now open about who they are but fear, violence and discrimination remain high, show the results of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s survey on experiences of LGBTI people in Europe. With 140,000 respondents, it is the largest ever survey on hate crime and discrimination against LGBTI people. The findings should drive policy measures to further protect and promote the rights of LGBTI people.
    On 28 April, FRA hosted the first meeting of the relaunched Roma Working Party.
    COVID-19 is disrupting the lives and livelihoods of billions of workers across the globe. Ahead of International Workers’ Day, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) underlines the need for governments, workers and employers to continue their concerted efforts to combat the outbreak, ensure public health, and safeguard workers’ fundamental rights now and in the future.
    Since the beginning of Coronavirus lockdowns, police, women shelters and NGOs have reported a surge in domestic violence, especially violence targeting women. The pandemic exposed how common this serious human rights abuse is and how insufficient the measures to fight it still are. The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) call on the EU and the Member States to use the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to step up their efforts to effectively protect women's rights.
    Government measures to combat COVID-19 have profound implications for everybody’s fundamental rights, including the right to life and to health, as mapped by a new Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) report. Government responses to stop the virus particularly affect the rights of already vulnerable or at-risk people, such as the elderly, children, people with disabilities, Roma or refugees. Respecting human rights and protecting public health is in everyone’s best interest – they have to go hand-in-hand.
    Overcrowding and poor access to sanitation have long blighted Roma communities across Europe. On the eve of International Roma Day, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) highlight the longstanding neglect of Roma that is now leaving them highly vulnerable as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe.
    The COVID-19 pandemic is a grave and immense threat to the health of humanity. Governments take urgent measures to curb its spread to safeguard public health and provide medical care to those who need it. They are acting to defend the human rights of health and of life itself. Inevitably, these measures limit our human and fundamental rights to an extent rarely experienced in peacetime. It is important to ensure that such limitations are consistent with our legal safeguards and that their impact on particular groups is adequately taken account of.