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

Products
6
January
2014
This Technical report describes how the FRA Roma Pilot survey was carried out and the fieldwork outcomes in 11 EU Member States.
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.
With antisemitism once again on the rise, International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January is a moment to reaffirm our commitment to human rights and remember the millions who were killed during the Second World War.
Throughout 2019, the agency will continue to work steadfastly for everyone to promote and protect human rights, in a year that marks 10 years of the European Union’s very own bill of rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The agency’s Director spoke at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 6 December 2018 on antisemitism.
The agency attended the 12th EU-Israel seminar on 17 December on combating racism, xenophobia and antisemitism.
The year 2018 saw many significant anniversaries in the world of human rights. It was the year that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turned 70 and the European Convention on Human Rights 65.
On 13 December in Madrid, the agency took part in the fifth Congress of Human Rights of Spanish Lawyers, devoted to preventing and combating hate crime.
The agency delivered a keynote speech to a conference on discrimination of Muslims.
The Agency has just published a paper that looks at how European Court of Human Rights case law relating to hate crime has evolved.
Antisemitic hate speech, harassment and fear of being recognised as Jewish; these are some of the realities of being Jewish in the EU today. It appears to be getting worse, finds a major repeat survey of Jews from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, the largest ever of its kind worldwide.
A new online tool to help free Muslims from hatred has just been released by FRA. The anti-Muslim hatred database is an easy-to-use overview of information on hate crime, hate speech and discrimination against Muslims across the EU.
Black people in the EU face unacceptable difficulties in simply finding somewhere to live or getting a decent job because of their skin colour, according to findings from a major repeat survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. Racist harassment also remains all too common.
The persistent problem of limited data hinders effective responses to tackle Europe’s longstanding antisemitism issues, finds the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights’ latest annual overview of antisemitism data from across the EU. Without such data, government and civil society efforts to combat antisemitism will remain general and untargeted.
The Agency took part in the UN’s High-Level Political Forum 2018 on Sustainable Development in New York from 12 to 17 July. "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies" organised by the United Nations.
On 12 and 13 July FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty, together with the Head of Freedoms and Justice Department, Joanna Goodey, attended the Informal Meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Innsbruck.
Over 500 local and regional leaders and experts from 40 different countries attended the Council of European Municipalities and Regions’ conference on inclusion, diversity and equality in Bilbao on 13 June.
The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Lamberto Zannier, together with the Director of his Office, Henrik Villadsen met the Agency’s Director Michael O´Flaherty at FRA on 6 June.
Nearly 60% of Europeans consider being old a disadvantage when looking for work. Societies often view older people as burdens. Too often we overlook the basic human rights of our older people. This year, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in its 2018 Fundamental Rights Report explores how a rights-based approach towards respect for older people is starting to happen.
The Agency presented research findings on discrimination and integration during a conference on 18 May about migrant integration at the regional and local level.
Jewish people in 13 EU Member States can now participate in the Agency's second antisemitism survey. Building on the results from the first survey, it aims to further help the EU and its Member States formulate informed policy and legal responses to combat antisemitism.
Participants at the European Coalition of Cities against Racism’s General Conference swapped knowledge about initiatives developed by cities, civil society, sport associations, cultural and grassroots organisations on fighting racism, discrimination and stereotypes, and promoting diversity and inclusion for all.