Handvest van de grondrechten van de EU

The Fundamental Rights Report: Challenges and Achievements in 2025 is FRA’s flagship annual publication. It provides an overview of the state of fundamental rights in the EU and highlights selected critical developments from 2025. This year, it focuses on four areas: rights protection in a rapidly changing digital environment; the housing crisis and rising homelessness rates; employment challenges for people from non-EU countries; and the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The publication is a valuable resource for those seeking to stay informed about the EU’s shifting landscape of fundamental rights.

This report examines how human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) are built into lawmaking across the EU and its Member States. It highlights that, although progress has been made, the use of HRIAs remains uneven and often superficial. In many EU countries, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is frequently overlooked. The report identifies insufficient consultation with external experts, limited stakeholder participation and a lack of evaluation once laws are in force. To address these gaps, it offers practical recommendations for more systematic, inclusive and evidence-based HRIAs that strengthen human rights protection and ensure better, more accountable legislation throughout the EU.

Het Handvest van de grondrechten van de Europese Unie is de bill of rights van de EU. Voor de EU-instellingen en lidstaten is het Handvest altijd bindend wanneer zij binnen de werkingssfeer van het Unierecht handelen. De beoordeling of een concreet geval binnen de werkingssfeer van het Unierecht valt, is echter verre van eenvoudig. Daarom is het nodig beoefenaars van juridische beroepen opleidingen en opleidingsmateriaal aan te bieden over het toepassingsgebied van het Handvest, zoals omschreven in artikel 51 daarvan. In het handboek wordt gebruikgemaakt van een reeks casestudy’s, die in de toekomst verder zullen worden uitgebreid.

This focus takes a closer look at the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which has been legally binding for 10 years. At EU level, it has gained visibility and sparked a new fundamental rights culture. At national level, awareness and use of the Charter are limited. Courts increasingly use the Charter, showing the impact of this modern instrument. But its use by governments and parliaments remains low. For instance, there is little indication of anyone regularly scrutinising national legislation that transposes EU law for compatibility with the Charter.

The Charter is most effective, and has a real impact on people’s lives, when parliaments, governments and courts at local, regional and national levels all actively apply it. The national sphere is particularly relevant. A strong fundamental rights architecture and committed national governments and parliaments are key to letting the Charter unfold its potential at this level. Civil society organisations (CSOs) and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) are also crucial given their contributions to the protection and promotion of Charter rights.

De lidstaten hebben de uitdrukkelijke plicht om de toepassing van het Handvest te bevorderen. Deze landenoverzichten dragen daartoe bij doordat zij voorbeelden geven van het gebruik van het Handvest en laten zien welke toegevoegde waarde het biedt.

Als een zeer actuele mensenrechtencatalogus die vele rechten omvat die in erkende
grondrechtenverklaringen niet terug te vinden zijn, ziet het Handvest er op papier zeer
goed uit. Wie vertrouwd is met de belangrijkste beginselen van EU-recht, kan doorgaans
snel vertellen dat het Handvest altijd bindend is voor de EU, en voor de lidstaten
enkel bindend is “wanneer zij het recht van de Unie ten uitvoer brengen”. Maar wat
betekent deze vaak genoemde formulering uit artikel 51 van het Handvest precies?

With this Opinion, FRA aims to contribute to the European Parliament's own-initiative report on the “Implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the EU institutional framework”, being prepared in the Parliament’s Committee for Constitutional Affairs (AFCO). The request aims at understanding the interaction between the Charter’s implementation at national and EU level, and whether there are “instruments, mechanisms and practices” available at EU level to assist Member States to better implement the Charter.