EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA):
A REALITY CHECK
Human Rights Without Frontiers Int'l
"EU NEWS"
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The
purpose of the present report is to provide a critical assessment of
the work of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and
to identify some shortfalls in the overall EU system of promotion and
protection of EU fundamental rights and values. The work on the report
has been guided by the premise that the new fundamental rights dimension
of the EU policies, ensuing from the legally binding nature of the EU
Charter of Fundamental Rights as incorporated in the Lisbon Treaty,
makes it necessary for the European Union to develop and consolidate a
genuine culture of fundamental rights at the level of both EU
institutions and EU Member States broadly and when applying and
implementing the Union Law.
The
importance of a EU fundamental rights culture has been widely
acknowledged but it is still in its nascent stages and risks to remain
rudimentary, unless a proper institutional architecture is installed to
support its development and consolidation. Notwithstanding the existing
mechanisms and legal provisions in place, the whole system remains
fragmented and reactive.
In its resolution of 15 December 2010, the
European Parliament calls on the EU
institutions and Member States to increase coherence among their various
bodies responsible for monitoring and implementation of fundamental
rights protection and to reinforce a cross-EU monitoring mechanism, as
well as an early warning system, similar to the UN Universal Periodic
Review. However, the European Union still lacks a comprehensive
internal human rights structure to ensure cross-institutional
coordination and to allow each institution to build upon other
institutions' reports and institutional expertise acquired in the
process of their autonomous processes of conducting compatibility checks
and impact assessments of legislative proposals and policies.
On its side, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which has been in existence since 2007 as a "focused observation and assessment agency on Union policies", falls short of filling the gap of a much-needed early warning mechanism and ex ante
examination of breaches or risk of breaches of EU fundamental rights.
Most importantly, FRA fails short of fulfilling two important criteria
underlying the UN Paris Principles governing the work of National Human
Rights Institutions (NHRIs), i.e. a broad mandate and full-fledged
independence.
Despite these deficiencies, the EU Agency for Fundamental
Rights still can carve an important role for itself in the overall EU
fundamental rights architecture, if properly resourced, mandated and
politically supported. In this respect, the objective of this report is
to raise critical questions at a period when the Agency is coming to the
end of its first five-year Multiannual Framework (MAF) and starts
planning for its second five-year cycle of existence. This should be
seen as a
critical juncture of the institutional learning process of the EU
Agency for Fundamental Rights. It is therefore an opportune time to
assess the Agency's position and role within the EU fundamental rights
architecture as well as its added value and ability to mobilise
resources and expertise to fulfil its mandate within the context of the
prescribed broad-based participatory process of consultations within the
EU and its Member States.
Report drafted by Nadja Milanova
Brussels, 7 November 2011
______________________________________
EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA):
A REALITY CHECK
By Dr Nadja Milanova
See the full-report (72 pages) at http://www.hrwf.net
(Homepage/ Our Reports/ 2011)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive
summary
Chapter I: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) : Genesis and overview
Fundamental human rights policy in the EU: New architecture
Monitoring
of fundamental
rights
The genesis of FRA: Inherent asymmetries
The creation of FRA
Chapter II: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Institutional model
FRA as a specialized EU Agency
FRA and the Paris
Principles
Scope of FRA's
mandate
FRA's
independence
FRA and NHRIs in EU Member States
Chapter III: EU Agency for Fundamental Rights: Organisational structure
Overall control of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights
Relations with EU institutions and Member States
The role of civil society in the work of FRA
Chapter IV: EU fundamental rights culture: An Illusion or a reality?
The case of Hungary
Monitoring of the EU Member States' compliance with fundamental rights
Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Media Law and reaction to it
Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Constitution and reaction to it
Timeline of Hungary's adoption of new Religion Law and reaction to it
Recommendations
Annexes
List of relevant
documents
The Paris Principles relating to the status of national institutions
Members of FRA's Management Board
Members of FRA's Scientific Committee
FRA's National Liaison Officers
Editor-in-Chief: Willy Fautre Website: http://www.hrwf.net
http://www.willyfautre.org Email: international.secretariat.brussels@hrwf.net |
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