Council of Europe
In order to ensure complementarity and added value, the Agency coordinates its activities with those of the Council of Europe, particularly with regard to its Annual Work Programme and cooperation with civil society. To that end, the European Community entered into an agreement with the Council of Europe for the purpose of establishing close cooperation between the latter and the Agency. In June 2025, the Council of Europe nominated Christos Giakoumopoulos as independent person to sit in the FRA Executive Board and in the FRA Management Board, and Christophe Poirel as the alternate member.
The independent person appointed by the Council of Europe participates in the decision making of the Management Board which, in particular, adopts the Annual Work Programme and the Annual Report and appoints Scientific Committee members.
Christos Giakoumopoulos succeeds Philippe Boillat. The previous members were Prof. Rainer Hofmann, Ms de Boer-Buquicchio and Mr Guy De Vel.
FRA cooperates closely with the following bodies of the Council of Europe:
- Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
- European Court of Human Rights
- Commissioner for Human Rights
- Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law
- Directorate General Democracy
- Conference of INGOs
As of mid-2024 FRA and the European Court of Human Rights are working together to produce joint factsheets which highlight jurisprudence in selected areas where EU law and that of the European Convention on Human Rights interact.
Contact:
Massimo Toschi, FRA contact on Council of Europe cooperation
FRA_CoEcooperation(at)fra.europa.eu
EU priorities for cooperation with the Council of Europe in 2018-2019 (leaflet)
EU priorities for cooperation with the Council of Europe in 2018-2019