Newsroom

On 10 December, Human Rights Day, FRA and the Bulgarian Fund for Women will host a national outreach meeting in Sofia. The ‘Between Statistics and Reality: Domestic Violence in Bulgaria Beyond the Numbers’ event will discuss the latest EU data on violence against women.
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FRA will give a presentation during the plenary meeting of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
The Center for the Study of Democracy and FRA will host a National Round Table spotlighting Roma equality and inclusion. The event will present the Roma survey 2024 results, revealing both progress and persistent gaps in poverty, education, housing, and discrimination.
On 11 December, FRA will take part in the Regional Human Rights Mechanisms Focal Points online meeting organised by the Global Operation Division of the UN Human Rights Office. FRA will join the meeting organised for regional human rights mechanisms from the European, Asian and Arab regions.
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The Agency’s Executive Board and Management Board will meet from 11 to 12 December.
FRA’s Director took part in the EU – Colombia Human Rights Dialogue on 1 December organised by the EU’s External Action Service in Brussels.
The civil society umbrella network Civil Society Europe awarded its Civil Dialogue Award for the first time. The award recognises good practices and initiatives of meaningful involvement of civil society organisations in EU policy making, by EU Institutions and bodies.
FRA took part in the working group on digital dimensions of migrant smuggling, coordinated by the Justice and Home Affairs Agencies Network. Participants from Europol, Frontex, the European Commission, EUAA, CEPOL, eu-LISA and FRA discussed ongoing counter-measures at the legislative, policy and operational levels.
FRA spoke at the launch event of the EU Charter for the defenders of civic spaces. The Charter is an outcome of research and discussions in the REVES network (European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy) and its B.Right Spaces project.
On 4 December, FRA spoke at the High-level Event: 60th Anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, organised by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The event commemorated six decades since the adoption of ICERD, reflecting on progress made and ongoing challenges in eliminating racial discrimination globally.
FRA took part in the regular meeting of EURoma network. FRA presented the situation of Roma in Italy as well as the overall results of the recent Roma Survey 2024.
FRA presented its work on countering antisemitism, including on the recording and monitoring hate crimes at the meeting of the Radicalisation Prevention Knowledge Hub meeting.
On 27 March, FRA and the Frontex Consultative Forum on Fundamental Rights attended a Frontex Management Board meeting. They spoke about the protection of fundamental rights in Frontex operations.
Heads of EU Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Agencies met in Vienna from 4 to 5 December to reflect on their joint achievements and align future cooperation.
Human rights considerations are still too often overlooked in lawmaking across the EU, finds a new report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). Despite the binding force of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, only a few EU Member States have guidelines to assess human rights impacts when implementing EU law. Even fewer explicitly reference the Charter in such guidelines. The report comes as the EU intensifies efforts to streamline its regulatory framework through “Omnibus” reforms to boost competitiveness. In this context, the report stresses that fundamental rights impact assessments are essential to protect people and ensure compliance with the law – without compromising the goals of simplification and efficiency.
Sirpa Rautio
FRA Director Sirpa Rautio addresses the final High-Level Forum on the Future of EU Criminal Justice in Brussels on 1 December.
Artificial intelligence (AI) brings about many opportunities for our societies and economies. But it also puts fundamental rights at risk, especially in sensitive areas like recruitment or social benefits. Drawing on interviews with providers, deployers and experts, a new report from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reveals that many in the field of high-risk AI systems do not know how to systematically assess or mitigate these risks. Strengthening awareness and rights-compliant implementation of the AI act is key to protecting people’s rights while enabling innovation and creating legal certainty for businesses.
On 11 November, FRA gave an online presentation on the fundamental rights considerations of using facial recognition technology in law enforcement.
FRA presented findings from its report on ‘Digitalising Justice: A fundamental rights-based approach’ and upcoming report on Assessing high-risk AI to the Council of the EU’s Working Party on e-Justice on 24 November in Brussels.
FRA, in cooperation with the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer, co-hosted a stock taking meeting on monitoring fundamental rights compliance under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum’s Screening and Asylum Border Regulations.