A seminar hosted by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU and FRA on 20 April highlighted that legislative frameworks, while essential, are not sufficient on their own to ensure full equality for LGBTIQ people. Discussions underlined the added value of soft law instruments, in particular national action plans and strategies, in supporting effective and sustained implementation of the EU LGBTIQ Strategy 2026-2030.
At its meeting on 20 April, the Council Working Party on Fundamental Rights, Citizens’ Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP) held an in-depth exchange on how to strengthen human rights impact assessments in EU and national lawmaking. The European Commission, FRA and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) introduced the exchange amongst Member States.
The Council of Europe’s Committee on New and Emerging Technologies (CDNET) held its inaugural meeting in Strasbourg from 15 to 17 April. FRA is a participant to the committee as part of the EU delegation.
On 16 April, FRA and the Deputy Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer provided an awareness raising workshop to monitoring staff of the NHRIs, Ombuds Institutions and Justice Chancellors of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland and Poland.
FRA has launched its annual consultation with civil society organisations about their civic space experiences. The survey is open to all civil society organisations working in an EU Member State at the EU level, as well as in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia. The deadline has been extended until 17 May.
FRA took part in a meeting of the Fundamental Rights Guidance Board of the European Travel Identification and Authorisation System (ETIAS)on 14 and 15 April in Warsaw.
On 17 April, FRA gave a presentation on interviewer training methods based on the agency’s experiences of implementing large-scale data collection on violence against women. The presentation took place in an expert group meeting on interviewer training in violence against women surveys and modules, organised by the World Health Organization.
FRA participated in a plenary meeting of the Council of Europe’s Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine in Strasbourg from 14 to 16 April. Council of Europe member states, the European Commission, the UN Refugee Agency and representatives of civil society attended the meeting.
FRA attended a concept note drafting meeting on 25 March in Prague under the EEA/Norway Grants Roma inclusion and empowerment programme for financial mechanism 2021-2028 in Czechia.
FRA joined the international ‘Discrimination against Roma people in Central and Eastern Europe’ research workshop, organised by the Budapest Institute.