Roma and Travellers living in western EU countries are less often in the
limelight than those living in central, eastern and southern EU countries.
While they represent a smaller proportion of the population in the west, they
also face problems with social exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination.
These country sheets present findings from the survey conducted by FRA in 2019
covering Roma and Travellers populations in Belgium, France, Ireland, the
Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey included interviews
with almost 4,700 Roma and Travellers, collecting information on more than
8,200 individuals living in their households.
The EU Fundamental Rights Agency published in 2019 its report on the ‘Integration of young refugees in the EU’. The report explored the challenges of young people who fled armed conflict or persecution and arrived in the EU in 2015 and 2016. The report is based on 426 interviews with experts working in the area of asylum and integration, as well as 163 interviews with young people, aged 16 to 24, conducted between October 2017 and June 2018 in 15 regions and cities located in six Member States: Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Sweden. The links on this page provide a summary of the information collected during this period for each country about unaccompanied children turning 18 and the change in people’s legal status once international protection is granted. These two issues had at the time been identified as moments requiring sufficient, consistent and systematic support, particularly from lawyers, social workers and guardians, to ensure successful integration.
Business activity affects not just customers, employees, and contractors along supply chains, but often entire communities and the environment. This makes it vital that every business complies with human rights. This comparative report looks at the realities victims face when they seek redress for business-related human rights abuses. It presents the findings of fieldwork research on the views of professionals regarding the different ways people can pursue complaints. The findings highlight that obstacles to achieving justice are often multi-layered.
Often living in substandard and overcrowded housing conditions, Roma
and Travellers face an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. They are
also disproportionately affected by measures taken to contain the virus.
This FRA Bulletin takes a closer look at this reality in 15 EU Member States,
focusing on education; employment; poverty; healthcare; housing; and
anti-Gypsyism. It also outlines civil society efforts to tackle the diverse
challenges triggered by the Coronavirus pandemic.
This report presents findings from FRA’s 2019 survey on Roma and Travellers in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey included interviews with almost 4,700 Roma and Travellers, collecting information on more than 8,200 individuals living in their households.
National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are a vital part of the country-level human rights protection system. This report, published 10 years after FRA’s first in-depth study on NHRIs, looks at such bodies in the EU, as well as the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Serbia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It explores relevant developments, challenges to their effectiveness and ways to maximise their impact.
This video statement by FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty was recorded on the occasion of the Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma on 2 August 2020.
As we enter the second half of 2020, the constraints on our daily lives
brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic have become a firm reality.
New local lockdowns and the reintroduction of restrictive measures
prompted by fresh outbreaks of the virus are a stark reminder that
COVID-19 continues to shape our lives – and our enjoyment of fundamental
rights – in profound ways. There is compelling evidence of how the
pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges in our societies. This FRA
Bulletin outlines some of the measures EU Member States adopted to
safely reopen their societies and economies while continuing to mitigate
the spread of COVID-19. It highlights the impact these measures may have
on civil, political and socioeconomic rights.
This practical guidance addresses border-management staff in European Union (EU) Member States who work at the operational level. It aims to support them in implementing the fundamental rights safeguards of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) No. 2016/399) and related EU law instruments in their daily work, when carrying out controls at external land borders.
The Coronavirus pandemic continues to interrupt everyday life in the EU
in unprecedented ways. But the way it affects our societies is shifting.
As governments gradually lift some of the measures put in place to
contain the spread of COVID-19, new fundamental rights concerns arise:
how to ensure that the rights to life and health are upheld as daily life
transitions to a ‘new normal’. This Bulletin looks at declarations of states of
emergency, or equivalent, and how they came under scrutiny. It considers
the impact on fundamental rights in important areas of daily life, and
includes a thematic focus on the pandemic's impact on older people
In this video message to the Equality2020 conference on 29 June, FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty speaks about our shared struggle for a Europe that honours everybody in their diversity, in their equality and in their dignity.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey collected data from 35,000 people
about their experiences, perceptions and opinions on a range of
issues that are variously encompassed by human rights. This report
presents a small selection of the survey results. It focuses on findings
with respect to respondents’ opinions about human – or fundamental
– rights; their views and perceptions on the functioning of democratic
societies – as a pillar on which human rights can flourish; and on their
thoughts on and engagement with public services that have a duty
to enforce human rights law and to protect people’s rights.
In 2019, the International Organization for Migration estimated that 1,866 people have died or gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe to escape war or persecution or to pursue a better life. This is an average of five people per day. In recent years, a significant proportion of migrants in distress at sea have been rescued by civil society vessels deployed with a humanitarian mandate to reduce fatalities and bring rescued migrants to safety. Since 2018, however, authorities in some EU Member States started viewing civil society-deployed rescue vessels with hostility. As a reaction, national authorities initiated about 40 administrative and criminal proceedings against crew members or vessels, including seizing the latter. In some cases, rescue vessels were blocked in harbours due to flag issues or the inability to meet technical requirements.
This document presents data from the FRA Fundamental Rights Survey. It includes data on opinions and experiences of people in the European Union (EU) linked to data protection and technology.
This focus takes a closer look at the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which has been legally binding for 10 years. At EU level, it has gained visibility and sparked a new fundamental rights culture. At national level, awareness and use of the Charter are limited. Courts increasingly use the Charter, showing the impact of this modern instrument. But its use by governments and parliaments remains low. For instance, there is little indication of anyone regularly scrutinising national legislation that transposes EU law for compatibility with the Charter.
FRA’s Fundamental Rights Report 2020 reviews major developments in the field in 2019, identifying both achievements and areas of concern. It also presents FRA’s opinions on these developments, including a synopsis of the evidence supporting these opinions. This year’s focus chapter explores how to unlock the full potential of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The Coronavirus pandemic continues to interrupt everyday life in the EU
in unprecedented ways. But the way it affects our societies is shifting. As
governments gradually lift some of the measures put in place to contain the
spread of COVID-19, new fundamental rights concerns arise: how to ensure that
the rights to life and health are upheld as daily life transitions to a ‘new normal’.
This Bulletin looks at declarations of states of emergency, or equivalent, and
how they came under scrutiny. It considers the impact on fundamental rights in
important areas of daily life, and includes a thematic focus on the processing of
users’ data to help contain COVID-19, particularly by contact-tracing apps. It covers the period 21 March – 30 April 2020.
This report presents select findings from FRA’s 2019 survey on LGBTI people in the EU and North Macedonia and Serbia. With almost 140,000 participants, it is the largest survey of its kind. It follows the agency’s first survey on LGBT people in the EU, conducted in 2012. The new survey results show little progress over the past seven years.