In light of the obligation under Article 10 of the Screening Regulation for Member States to establish independent fundamental rights monitoring mechanisms as of June 2026, FRA and the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) contacted national human rights institutions regarding their monitoring activities during 2025 falling within the remit of monitoring under the Pact on Migration and Asylum. These included, for example, monitoring of detention and reception facilities where in future screening or border procedures may take place and of the treatment of persons hosted there. This follows a similar exercise done in 2025 for monitoring activities in 2023 and 2024. The mapping shows an increase in the number of monitoring activities carried out in 2025 – where some 170 monitoring visits occurred – as compared to 2023 and 2024. In addition, in Bulgaria the tripartite monitoring mechanism by the General Directorate Border Police, UNHCR and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee carried out 421 visits in 2025, compared to 589 monitoring visits in 2024, as described in its 2024 annual report.

Most Member States have committed to designate national independent monitoring mechanisms in their Pact’s national implementation plans. Based on information available to FRA, as of March 2026, in most Member States, the task of an independent monitoring mechanism is or mostly likely will be attributed to existing national statutory human rights bodies, such as Ombuds institutions (e.g. Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain). In some Member States, the monitoring will be carried out in cooperation with civil society organisation. In the framework of a screening simulation exercise in Romania at the end of April, the Romanian Ombudsman and FRA will be jointly testing the screening monitoring methodologies developed by FRA.

Other Member States are opting for different solutions. For example, Ireland proposes the establishment of a newly created oversight mechanism, the Chief Inspector for Asylum and Border Procedures. Croatia plans to assign the task to the Office of Human Rights and the Rights of National Minorities who will cooperate with external partners.

In the 2025 European Annual Asylum and Migration Report, the European Commission urged Member States to conclude “arrangements relating to the fundamental rights monitoring” and recommended to avoid “splitting this role amongst different actors or, where composite arrangements are chosen, clearly defining a lead role.”

FRA has been engaging with National Human Rights Institutions and National Preventive Mechanisms as well as Member States’ authorities, to operationalise its monitoring guidance. As part of this process, FRA is developing a common monitoring methodology for future national mechanisms. Such practical manual will support fundamental rights monitors across the EU in their daily work, on what to monitor and how to plan, carry out and follow up on monitoring visits. In 2026, FRA plans to pilot the methodology in selected Member States with the help of national independent monitoring mechanisms established under the Pact.

FRA’s 2025 update on forced return monitoring systems confirms that all Member States bound by the Return Directive (2008/115/EC) have a legal framework and designated bodies for monitoring forced returns, but independence, coverage and sustainability remain uneven. In 2024, five Member States did not monitor any national forced returns. Persistent gaps in transparency, timely information-sharing and sustainable funding – including EU funding-related interruptions in some Member States – risk undermining the effectiveness and credibility of national systems. The proposed Return Regulation, intended to replace the Return Directive, suggests improvements to the existing forced return monitoring (see also section 11).

The European Border and Coast Guard Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 has a fundamental rights monitoring mechanism, whereby Frontex fundamental rights monitors can monitor a wide range of activities at the borders covered by Frontex operations, including border surveillance and patrolling. At the beginning of 2026, some 50 monitors continuously cover Frontex activities in the field, collecting findings, including best practices, and providing Frontex with recommendations for mitigating measures or suggestions to suspend parts of the operations due to high risk of fundamental rights violations. They also provide training and advice. Frontex monitors spent some 1,700 days in the field in 2025. The main concerns they identified relate to national authorities not complying with EU and international law, such as in relation to the right to seek asylum and the duty not to return people without a return decision. The Frontex fundamental rights officer who oversees the monitors’ work devotes significant resources to investigate incidents and liaises with national authorities encouraging them to take needed action.

The EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has also a dedicated fundamental rights officer, who is responsible to ensure the Agency’s compliance with fundamental rights in all its activities, including to handle complaints, as well as to promote the respect for fundamental rights in the Agency. In 2025, he informed FRA that he visited EUAA operations in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy and Romania and handled 22 complaints.

Article 14 of the EUAA Regulation (EU) 2021/2303 requires the Agency to establish a mechanism to monitor the operational and technical application of the common European asylum system. While not focusing on fundamental rights compliance, this monitoring mechanism is explicitly tasked with covering also fundamental rights and child protection issues in the implementation of responsibility sharing mechanisms as well as reception conditions. In 2025, EUAA piloted the mechanism in Estonia and the Netherlands.