In 2011, the EU adopted key legislative and policy measures in, for example, the areas of victim protection, human trafficking and the integration of Roma, and, for the first time, was itself directly bound to an international human rights treaty - the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Various EU Member States, among other steps, reformed their child protection systems and made efforts to combat violence against women and shorten the length of court proceedings. 

Challenges, however, remain. The areas of racism, equality and non-discrimination will continue to be core concerns. The year 2012 will also be crucial to the finalisation of the Common European Asylum System and the debate on the new EU data protection framework.

This year's FRA annual report chronicles the positive developments made in 2011 as well as the challenges facing the EU and its Member States in the field of fundamental rights, drawing on objective, reliable and comparable socio-legal data. It examines progress on EU and Member State rights obligations under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, covering the following topics: asylum, immigration and integration; border control and visa policy; information society and data protection; the rights of the child and protection of children; equality and non-discrimination; racism and ethnic discrimination; participation of EU citizens in the Union's democratic functioning; access to efficient and independent justice; and rights of crime victims.

This year's annual report Focus maps the fundamental rights landscape in the EU today. It looks at how the various institutions, norms and laws at national, Council of Europe, EU and international level interrelate. It also describes the rights, bodies and procedures at these different levels. In combination, they should not only protect and promote fundamental rights, but also aim to bring these rights to life for everyone in the EU.

Download:

• Full report EN - DE -  FR (pdf 8,257KB)
• Highlights EN - DE - FR (pdf 2,744KB)

• Title and foreword (pdf 641KB)
• Table of contents (pdf 94KB)
• Introduction (pdf 176KB)

• FOCUS - Bringing rights to life: The fundamental rights landscape of the European Union (pdf 767KB)

• Chapter 1: Asylum, immigration and integration (pdf 1,066KB)
   

• Chapter 2: Border control and visa policy (pdf 485KB)
   

• Chapter 3: Information society and data protection (pdf 609KB)
   

• Chapter 4: The rights of the child and protection of children (pdf 361KB)
   

• Chapter 5: Equality and non-discrimination (pdf 741KB)
   

• Chapter 6: Racism and ethnic discrimination (pdf 533KB)
   

• Chapter 7: Participation of EU citizens in the Union's democratic functioning (pdf 405KB)
   

• Chapter 8: Access to efficient and independent justice (pdf 356KB)
   

• Chapter 9: Rights of crime victims (pdf 477KB)
   

• Chapter 10: EU Member States and international obligations (pdf 624KB)