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

  • Data explorer
    FRA’s 2024 survey on Roma and Travellers in Albania, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Spain collected information from 10,126 respondents living in private households who self-identify as Roma or Traveller, are 16 or older and have lived in the survey countries for at least the 12 months before the survey.
  • Report / Paper / Summary
    25
    November
    2024
    This report presents key results of the EU gender-based violence survey based on data from all 27 Member States. The report focuses on the overall prevalence of physical violence or threats and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator, violence perpetrated by women’s intimate partners and by other people (non-partners) and women’s experiences of sexual harassment at work.
  • 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.
    Publications and data
    25
    April
    2018
    The methods used to determine the age of
    an applicant may include “invasive” medical tests which interfere with the rights of the child, including their right to dignity,
    integrity and privacy. It is often a challenge to find the right balance between protecting children from harm and promoting
    their participation in these procedures. This report provides important insights and identifies the implications of collecting
    children’s biometric data and conducting age assessments.
    25
    April
    2018
    The right to access justice and all other relevant procedural rights are not just rights in themselves; they also protect against violations of every other right. Respect for children’s rights in the area of justice is therefore essential. International treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, European Union (EU) secondary law, and national legislation provide a number of relevant rights.
    The EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) work together to help states improve their ability to record and collect hate crime data through national workshops.
    6
    April
    2018
    Despite ambitious initiatives, the fundamental rights situation of Roma in the EU remains profoundly troubling. This report examines the persisting phenomenon of anti-Gypsyism and its effect on Roma inclusion efforts. It first presents data on key manifestations of anti-Gypsyism, namely discrimination, harassment and hate crime.
    21
    March
    2018
    New language versions: Estonian, Maltese, Danish, Latvian
    23 March 2022
    European non-discrimination law, as constituted in particular by the EU non-discrimination directives, and Article 14 of and Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, prohibits discrimination across a range of contexts and grounds. This handbook examines European non-discrimination law stemming from these two sources as complementary systems, drawing on them interchangeably to the extent that they overlap, while highlighting differences where these exist.
    16
    January
    2018
    Guardians are a key element of a protection system for children who are temporarily or
    permanently deprived of their family environment and cannot have their interests represented
    by their parents. Great disparities exist between the types of guardianship provided
    to children in and within European Union (EU) Member States. This report explores the key
    features of guardianship systems put in place to cater for the needs of all children in need
    of protection, including child victims and those at risk of becoming victims of trafficking in
    human beings or of other forms of exploitation.
    3
    January
    2018
    Inside this book you will read about the justice system and the problems in justice for children and how to fix the problems.
    15
    December
    2017
    This meeting report distils the discussions held during a high-level expert meeting organised by FRA, which explored the shared space between religion and human rights.
    6
    December
    2017
    Seventeen years after adoption of EU laws that forbid discrimination, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, and minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life – most often when seeking employment. For many, discrimination is a recurring experience. This is just one of the findings of FRA’s second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II), which collected information from over 25,500 respondents with different ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds across all 28 EU Member States.
    The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) launches its second EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II).
    This survey involved interviews with 25,515 people with different ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds across 28 EU countries. It explores issues concerning discrimination as well as experiences of harassment, hate-motivated violence and discriminatory profiling.
    This infographic illustrates the main experiences immigrants and ethnic minorities across the EU have when it comes to discrimination. It draws from the findings from FRA's EU-MIDIS II survey.
    This infographic illustrates the main experiences immigrants and ethnic minorities across the EU have when it comes to victimisation. It draws from the findings from FRA's EU-MIDIS II survey.
    This infographic illustrates the main experiences immigrants and ethnic minorities across the EU have when it comes to inclusion. It draws from the findings from FRA's EU-MIDIS II survey.
    13
    November
    2017
    Women and girls in the European Union (EU) experience persistent gender discrimination and gender-based violence, as evidence collected by FRA confirms. This severely limits the ability of women and girls to enjoy their rights and to participate on an equal footing in society. This FRA contribution to the third Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights ‘Women's rights in turbulent times’ looks at core human rights commitments. It balances these against selected evidence on gender discrimination, sexist hate speech and gender-based violence against women and girls in the EU.
    20
    November
    2017
    International treaties, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, European Union (EU) secondary law and national legislation provide a number of rights to citizens. The maps and tables presented show the various patterns concerning age requirements for children to acquire rights in the EU. They also identify inconsistencies, protection gaps and restrictions deriving from different age thresholds. The reference period was until April 2016. Any legislative developments since then have been included whenever relevant or if known.
    9
    November
    2017
    This report provides an overview of data on antisemitism as recorded by
    international organisations and by official and unofficial sources in the 28 European
    Union (EU) Member States, based on their own definitions and categorisations.
    21
    September
    2017
    Muslims living in the EU face discrimination in a broad range of settings – and particularly when looking for work, on the job, and when trying to access public or private services. The report examines how characteristics – such as an individual's first and last name, skin colour and the wearing of visible religious symbols like a headscarf, for example – may trigger discriminatory treatment and harassment.
    The Agency, in close cooperation with the Maltese Presidency of the EU Council, held a high-level symposium where the fundamental rights issues that are currently high on the EU’s political agenda were discussed.
    22
    June
    2017
    Up to one third of migrants arriving in the European Union since the summer of 2015 have been children. The current emphasis on speedier asylum processing and making returns more effective may trigger increased use of immigration detention, possibly also affecting children. The detention of children implicates various fundamental rights and will only be in line with EU law if limited to exceptional cases. This report aims to support practitioners in implementing relevant polices in line with applicable law by outlining available safeguards against unlawful and arbitrary detention and highlighting promising practices.
    On 15 March, FRA met representatives from three organisations dealing with Roma rights across Europe.
    FRA gave a presentation on promoting the collection and use of equality data based on racial or ethnic origin during a Eurostat conference.
    FRA addressed the Council of the EU’s Fundamental Rights, Citizens Rights and Free Movement of Persons Working Group (FREMP) on 23 February.
    The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted a high-level conference on the implementation of National Action Plans against Racism.
    On 8 February, FRA’s Director exchanged views with the Council of Europe’s GREVIO expert group on monitoring the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
    FRA will take part in a webinar that will provide an overview of the state of knowledge on equality and inclusion in the European Parliament elections.
    A major survey measuring hate crime and discrimination against Jews across Europe opened on 25 January, led by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
    FRA published 26 new promising practices on racial or ethnic equality data collection.
    FRA took part in the first meeting of the advisory board of the EU’s Child Participation Platform on 12 December.
    On 8 December, FRA presented key findings of its report on Guardianship for unaccompanied children at a roundtable in the European Parliament.
    On 7-8 December, FRA attended the high-level group on non-discrimination, equality and diversity.
    FRA joined the meeting of the antisemitism working group initiated by the EU coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life.
    On 1 December, FRA contributed to a technical meeting on surveys and equality data.
    On 30 November, FRA presented disability statistics from its Fundamental Rights Survey to the European Parliament Petition Committee’s annual seminar on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
    On 1 December, the Agency held a workshop on monitoring EU funds under the new Common Provisions Regulation.
    On 1 December, FRA presented the results of the Roma survey 2021 to the members of the Czech government council for Roma minority affairs.
    On 25 November, the European Commission’s child rights coordinator hosted an Interservice Group meeting to discuss the implementation of the EU Strategy on Child Rights (2021-2024).
    FRA took part in the online AGE Annual Conference 2022 on 18 November.
    On 17 November, FRA joined the first European Employment and Social Rights Forum.
    On 16 November, FRA joined the conference of German commissioners against antisemitism and for the promotion of Jewish life.
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    On 23-24 February, FRA will contribute at the Council of Europe seminar on “The role of Equality Bodies and National Human Rights Institutions in advancing Roma women’s access to justice”.
    FRA will take part in the third meeting of the European Commission’s Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training.
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    FRA will take part in a WHO expert meeting on psychological intimate partner violence.
    On 1 February, European experts from the European Commission, academia and civil society organisations meet to discuss ways of improving criminal proceedings for children who are in conflict with the law.
    The French Presidency of the EU invited FRA to the informal meeting of Justice Ministers in Lillle.
    On 20 January, FRA will take part in the second meeting of the Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training.
    FRA will join virtually the plenary meeting of the Spanish Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination on 17 December.
    FRA’s Director will address the General Affairs Council on 14 December. He will present the overview of antisemitic incidents recorded in the European Union 2010-2020.
    FRA will join virtually the plenary meeting of the Spanish Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination on 17 December. There will be a debate introducing a question on ethnic origin in statistics, surveys and studies.
    FRA’s Director will address the General Affairs Council on 14 December. He will present the overview of antisemitic incidents recorded in the European Union 2010-2020.
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    This year, FRA renews its cooperation with this human world 2021, an international human rights film festival.
    On 29 November, FRA will take part in the first meeting of the European Commission’s Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training.
    FRA will speak about the impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities on 25 November.
    FRA will take part in an international conference under the Slovenian EU Presidency on empowering people with disabilities to fully participate in society by increasing their mobility and accessibility.
    FRA will give a keynote speech on 25 November to mark the 13th German Senior Citizens’ Day 2021.
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    FRA will join the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children.
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    From 18 to 19 November, the Roma Working Party will take place online. It will bring together National Roma Contact Points from EU Member States and observer countries.
    FRA will take part in an international conference under the Slovenian EU Presidency on empowering people with disabilities to fully participate in society by increasing their mobility and accessibility.
    FRA’s Director will address a high-level conference on public health futures in a changing world on 12 November.
    FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty will speak about police violence against Roma during a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on 9 November.