Newsroom

FRA’s Fundamentally Right podcast series launched on 19 January. The final episode, Law: a bird's eye view, with FRA's Gabriel Toggenburg, is now out.
FRA Director, Michael O’Flaherty, will address the online high-level international conference on ‘Human Rights Go Local: What Works’ on 9 February. He will join discussions on building bridges with local governments on human rights.
On 23 February, the Fundamental Rights Agency’s Director, Michael O’Flaherty, listened to fundamental rights concerns and discussed ways to solve them. The second Fundamental Rights Dialogue invited young people to participate in shaping our societies, placing human rights centre stage.
FRA gave a presentation on good practices to protect and promote human rights during and after COVID during the EU Migration Preparedness and Crisis Management Mechanism (Blueprint) Network meeting on 4 February.
FRA took part in an expert meeting on children in migration. Member States’ authorities and EU agencies attended the 28 January event. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the state of play in the implementation of the 2017 European Commission’s Communication on protecting migrant children.
National Contact Points under the European Migration Network (EMN) met on 22 January. The aim of the meeting was to update national contact points, EASO, the European Commission and its Joint Research Centre, and FRA about each other’s activities.
FRA outlined fundamental rights safeguards in the Entry-Exit system during a training course on 2 and 3 February. FRA rose awareness on the potential risks for fundamental rights, that can emerge if safeguards are not duly implemented, drawing on its relevant work.
FRA presented the main findings from its facial recognition technology paper during an event organised by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations (INCLO). The network brings together 15 independent, national human rights NGOs from different countries.
FRA will join the close of the European Commission’s online conference on the feasibility of a child guarantee. The event will cover some of the findings from a feasibility study, the second phase of the Preparatory Action for a Child Guarantee.
News Item
FRA announces with great sadness the sudden passing of our dear colleague and friend Unai Leva.
Artificial intelligence (AI) already plays a role in many decisions that affect our daily lives. From deciding what unemployment benefits someone gets to where a burglary is likely to take place. But we need to make sure to fully uphold fundamental rights standards when using AI. Drawing on the ‘Getting the future right – Artificial intelligence and fundamental rights’ report, FRA explores the potential benefits and possible errors that can occur focusing on four core areas – social benefits, predictive policing, health services and targeted advertising.
Artificial intelligence (AI) already plays a role in many decisions that affect our daily lives. From deciding what unemployment benefits someone gets to where a burglary is likely to take place. But we need to make sure to fully uphold fundamental rights standards when using AI. Drawing on the ‘Getting the future right – Artificial intelligence and fundamental rights’ report, FRA presents a number of key considerations to help businesses and administrations respect fundamental rights when using AI.
A Spanish version of the asylum and migration legal handbook is now available.
FRA presented findings from its COVID-19 impact bulletins during a conference on the state of EU citizens’ rights. It drew attention to the impact of the pandemic on the fundamental right to family life for citizens moving about the EU.
FRA held an online inception meeting of a new project looking into the fundamental rights situation of third-country nationals who are long-term residents in the EU. The meeting on will gather partners from FRA’s research network from nine EU Member States – Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden – covered by the research.
The Agency’s Scientific Committee will meet on 5 February.
On 1 February, editorial committee of FRA’s annual Fundamental Rights Report will meet virtually. The committee members will elect a chairperson.
The next Frontex Consultative Forum meeting takes place on 3 February.
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FRA will speak at an expert meeting on combating antisemitism. The 2021 Swedish OSCE chairpersonship in consultation with the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) organises the event.
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FRA will contribute to the first edition of the online ‘Human rights go local: what works’ event Winter Academy. It will bring expertise from its work on Roma indicators, equality data and cooperation with human rights cities. The event will look at how to base policy-making at the local level on scientific evidence through tailored human rights research. It aims at building bridges between all governance levels, disciplines and regions. It allows knowledge sharing among human rights researchers, local authorities, representatives of International, European and EU organisations, and policy-makers across regions.