8
December
2025
Better legislation – Human rights impact assessments in lawmaking
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.
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- Foreword
- Key findings
- Introduction
- 1. Relevant law and policy
- 2. Assessment and evaluation of human rights impacts in practice
- 3. Ensuring informed lawmaking
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4. Ways forward
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4.1. The EU level
- 4.1.1. Ensure the systematic application of fundamental rights impact assessments
- 4.1.2. Increase the accessibility and inclusiveness of public consultations
- 4.1.3. Consider independent external fundamental rights expertise
- 4.1.4. Support peer-learning between Member States to further improve their HRIA systems
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4.2. The national level
- 4.2.1. Develop coherent and comprehensive guidelines that explicitly use the Charter when legislating within the scope of EU law
- 4.2.2. Use the EU-level HRIA as starting point and complement it with a national impact assessment to appropriately address the national context
- 4.2.3. Ensure high quality assessments through appropriate coordination, consultation and capacity building
- 4.2.4. Ensure that ex post evaluations become the rule and systematically consider human rights impacts
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4.1. The EU level
- Acronyms and Abbreviations
- About this publication
About this publication
© European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2025
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
For any use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holders.
Neither the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights nor any person acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that might be made of the following information.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2025
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- TK-01-25-018-EN-Q
- ISBN: 978-92-9489-648-3
- DOI: 10.2811/9756820
- TK-01-25-018-EN-N
- ISBN: 978-92-9489-649-0
- DOI: 10.2811/0864262
FRA – EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Schwarzenbergplatz 11 – 1040 Vienna – Austria
T +43 158030-0 – F +43 158030-699
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