Commission representatives are part of the FRA’s Management Board (together with independent members who are appointed by each Member State and the Council of Europe). The Board is responsible for adopting the agency’s work programme, approving its budget and monitoring its work. Through its participation in the Management Board’s discussions and its right to deliver an opinion on each draft annual work programme, the Commission can help inform the Board about current EU legislative and policy processes, thus ensuring the agency’s work focuses on issues of priority.
There is also a Commission representative in FRA’s Executive Board, which assists the Management Board in all its work.
FRA staff are in constant contact with the relevant departments at the Commission. In this way, the Commission can readily draw on the agency’s assistance and expertise when developing, implementing and evaluating EU policies and legislation. The close coordination also serves to ensure that reports and research initiated by the Commission are taken into account in the agency’s work, and vice versa. FRA works particularly closely with the Directorate-General for Justice and its Directorate for Fundamental Rights and Union Citizenship. The following are examples of FRA’s cooperation with the Commission:
