European Committee of the Regions
The European Committee of the Regions and FRA have set up an Annual Dialogue to discuss fundamental rights themes of relevance at the regional and local level, and to share knowledge of existing fundamental rights good practices.
Each year, FRA jointly organises the Annual Dialogue with the Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX). It is an opportunity to discuss policy actions at the European and Member State level, as well as to explore ways of developing cross-sectoral and multi-level coordination.
FRA also cooperates with the Committee through:
- Thematic presentations, such as presenting FRA’s work to the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture (SEDEC) or during Committee of the Regions conferences;
- Input to rapporteurs for their draft Opinions;
- Contribution of FRA Director to panel discussions in plenary of the Committee of the Regions.
It has also co-produced with the Committee the booklet “Making rights real: A guide for local and regional authorities”. The FRA and the CIVEX Commission co-organised in 2022 a online training course for the staff of the Committee of the Regions on "the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its relevance for EU, national and local governance".
The Committee was also part of the advisory group on the FRA joined-up governance project between 2012 and 2014. It contributed methods to enhance fundamental rights implementation across various government levels. The findings can be found in the FRA toolkit “Joining up fundamental rights”.
FRA-Committee of the Regions Annual Dialogue events:
- 13th Annual dialogue (16 November 2021) 'Human Rights Cities in the EU: a framework for reinforcing rights locally'.
- 12th Annual dialogue (4 December 2020) 'Integration of young migrants - preventing a "lost generation" by fostering local solutions' – FRA background document
- 11th Annual dialogue (9 December 2019) ‘Putting the Fundamental Rights Charter into practice: the local and regional perspective’ – FRA background document
- 10th Annual dialogue (11 April 2018) ‘Experiences of migrants in the EU and the impact on the local communities’
- 9th Annual dialogue (6 July 2017) ‘Inclusion and participation of migrants and their descendants in society
- 8th Annual dialogue (24 November 2016) ‘How can local authorities contribute in fighting discrimination and intolerance that affect the right to education of refugee's children
- 7th Annual Dialogue (16 November 2015) 'Seeking ways to improve child protection systems with local authorities'
- 6th Annual Dialogue (16 June 2014) 'The role of local and regional authorities in protecting the rule of law'
- 5th Annual Dialogue (24 September 2013) ‘Working together on fundamental rights: multi-level approaches to combating hate crime in the EU’
- 4th Annual Dialogue (25 September 2012) 'The economic crisis – Obstacle or incubator for innovation in access to justice?'
- 3rd Annual Dialogue (17 October 2011) 'Implementing fundamental rights of irregular migrants - towards multi-level governance'
- 2nd Annual Dialogue (26 November 2010) 'Implementing Fundamental Rights at the local and regional level following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty'
- 1st Annual Dialogue (13 November 2009) 'Rights of the Child: from Paper into Practice'