European Fundamental Rights Agency
Encyclopedia
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (usually known in English as the Fundamental Rights Agency, FRA) is a Vienna
-based agency of the European Union
inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation
(EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 as the successor to the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).
with reference to, in principle, all rights listed in the Charter
"; however, it is intended to focus particularly on "the thematic areas within the scope of EU law". This is an expansion upon the scope of the former EUMC, which was restricted to issues of racism and xenophobia.
Like the EUMC, the FRA's primary methods of operation are investigation, reports, provision of expert assistance to EU bodies
, member states, and EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries
, and the education of the public. The FRA is not intended to intervene in individual cases but rather to investigate broad issues and trends.
The European Parliament
(EP) has repeatedly attempted to use the FRA in order to put pressure on Member States' governments, especially with a view to promote LGBT rights.
One noteworthy example was a Resolution adopted in September 2009, in which the EP condemned a "Law on the Protection of Minors", which was then under discussion in Lithuania, as "homophobic" and requested the FRA to issue a legal opinion on whether the draft law was compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Lithuanian Parliament, however, responded by adopting a Resolution that condemned the EP's Resolution as an "illegal act" (pointing to the fact that the FRA explicitly has no mandate to examine the legislation adopted by Member States) and requesting the Lithuanian Government to take legal action against the EP before the European Court of Justice
. Following this, the FRA from its side informed the EP that it was not going to issue the requested legal opinion.
More recently, the European Parliament has tasked the Agency to continue research started by MEP
s into homophobia
in Poland
.
The Annual Report 2008 covered racism and xenophobia in each of the 27 Member States of the EU for the year 2007. It covered the following areas:
It concluded that implementation of the EU’s anti-discrimination legislation was patchy and there was a lack of awareness about legal redress open to victims of discrimination, and stressed the importance of equality bodies in making the Racial Equality Directive work and the importance of sanctions in raising public awareness about the legislation.
This report was the first major project of the newly created FRA. It identified inequalities in treatment and legal protection for LGBT people, particularly with regard to same sex partnerships, and noted that homophobia could be combatted more effectively using EU-wide criminal legislation. It also noted that 18 out of 27 EU Member States had already gone beyond minimum EU requirements and provided for legal protection against sexual orientation discrimination in employment, access to public goods and services, housing and social benefits.
It criticised the existence of a "hierarchy of grounds of discrimination" (meaning that legal protection against, inter alia, racism was stronger than protection against homophobia) and argued that more comprehensive legal protection and wider powers and resources for "equality bodies" were required.
This 2008 report provides information regarding the Roma, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The report provides facts and background information in relation to the situation of Roma in Italy, specifically the Ponticelli district.
EUMC published reports are available from the website here of the FRA, the EUMC successor agency. A selection is given below.
, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."
It provides contemporary examples of antisemitism, which include: promoting the harming of Jews in the name of an ideology or religion; promoting negative stereotypes of Jews; holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of an individual Jewish person or group; denying the Holocaust or accusing Jews or Israel of exaggerating it; and accusing Jews of dual loyalty or a greater allegiance to Israel than their own country.
It also states that ‘Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the State of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:’
However, the document stated that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic '
The FRA, in a document entitled 'Data collection and research activities on racism and xenophobia by the EUMC (2000-2006) Lessons learned for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency Working Paper 2007', stated regarding the definition:
's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, and the National Union of Students
in the UK.
Brian Klug
argues that this definition proscribes legitimate criticism of the human rights record of the Israeli Government by attempting to bring any criticism of Israel into the category of antisemitism, and does not sufficiently distinguish between criticism of Israeli actions and criticism of Zionism as a political ideology, on the one hand, and racially based violence towards, discrimination against, or abuse of, Jews. Sociologist Paul Igansky states that parallels between Israeli policy and those of the Nazis are "arguably not intrinsically antisemitic", and that the context in which they are made is critical. Igansky illustrates this with the incident where Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin
was described by fellow Jewish Israelis as cooperating with the Nazis, and depicted wearing an SS uniform. According to Igansky, the "Nazi" label was merely used as "charged political rhetoric" in this case.
The working definition has been described by David Hirsh
as "part of the terrain on which political struggles are conducted by, amongst others, academics". In 2008 a UK Government publication stated that "[t]he Government's position on the definition" was that it "was a work in progress that had not yet been recommended to Member States for adoption."
It detailed a rise in attacks targeting Jewish businesses, synagogues, cemeteries and individuals. The countries with the most significant number of attacks were Belgium
, France
, Germany
, the Netherlands
and the UK. It is the only report made by the EUMC on antisemitism.
was undertaken following 9/11 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).
From a total of 75 reports, 15 from each member state, a synthesis report, entitled "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", was published in May 2002.
The report highlighted occasions in which citizens abused and sometimes violently attacked Muslim
s. Discrimination included verbal abuse, indiscriminately accusing Muslims of responsibility for the attacks, removing women's hijab
, spitting, using the name "Usama" as a pejorative epithet, and assaults. The report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated."
(CoE), of which all EU member states were also members. Terry Davis, then secretary-general of the CoE, was quoted with the remark: "With all the best will in the world, I can't understand what it (i.e. the new Agency) is going to do." However, by 2007 he stated "I welcome the decision by the EU Council of Ministers to create a new Fundamental Rights Agency to scrutinise EU institutions and the application of EU laws. This is an important and challenging task."
Eurosceptics
have criticised the Agency's cost and its perceived lack of transparency and ideological bias. For example, a member of the Agency's own Advisory Panel, Gudrun Kugler, has criticised the Agency's disproportionate interest in "homophobia", which left little room for dealing with other human rights abuses.
English Conservative
MEP Charles Tannock
said in 2005 that "the Agency will duplicate work of other bodies". In 2007 the British Conservative MEP Syed Kamall
said: "The Fundamental Rights Agency will take £20m (30m euros) of taxpayers' money and use it to advance a partisan agenda with little accountability to anyone".. Also in 2007 Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson
spoke of a "quangocracy... every craze and fad that comes along, they say we must set up a new agency. A lot of them are playing to the gallery of political correctness."
In 2010 the conservative German newspaper Die Welt
reported that the centre-right French politician Pierre Lellouche
, then EU minister in the Sarkozy
government, questioned "the added value" of the FRA when the Council of Europe already took care of human rights.
A briefing published in October 2010 by the London-based eurosceptic think tank Open Europe
proposed the abolition of the FRA along with ten other agencies and institutes.
In 2008 the Irish 'pro-life
, pro-family' lobbyist Patrick Buckley criticised the Agency for having "outsourced its key competence of providing expertise relating to fundamental rights" through a contract with the FRALEX network of outside legal experts.. A Belgian lawyer and anti-abortion activist, Jakob Cornides, in 2010 was also critical of the FRALEX contract, and of the FRA for having published a report in which it was asserted that EU Member States were bound by international law to confer to (unmarried!) gay couples the same rights and benefits as to married couples. In actual fact, Cornides argued, there is not only no international obligation to that effect, but there also is not a single country in the world that actually provides for such "equality"; the FRA's findings were thus plainly wrong.
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
-based agency of the European Union
Agencies of the European Union
An agency of the European Union is a decentralised body of the European Union , which are distinct from the institutions. Agencies are established to accomplish specific tasks. Each agency has its own legal personality...
inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation
European Union regulation
A regulation is a legislative act of the European Union that becomes immediately enforceable as law in all member states simultaneously. Regulations can be distinguished from directives which, at least in principle, need to be transposed into national law...
(EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007 as the successor to the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).
Mandate
The FRA is an EU body tasked with "collecting and analysing data on fundamental rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
with reference to, in principle, all rights listed in the Charter
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union citizens and residents, into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaimed on 7 December 2000 by the European Parliament, the Council of...
"; however, it is intended to focus particularly on "the thematic areas within the scope of EU law". This is an expansion upon the scope of the former EUMC, which was restricted to issues of racism and xenophobia.
Like the EUMC, the FRA's primary methods of operation are investigation, reports, provision of expert assistance to EU bodies
Institutions of the European Union
The European Union is governed by seven institutions. Article 13 of Treaty on European Union lists them in the following order: the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European...
, member states, and EU candidate countries and potential candidate countries
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
, and the education of the public. The FRA is not intended to intervene in individual cases but rather to investigate broad issues and trends.
The European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
(EP) has repeatedly attempted to use the FRA in order to put pressure on Member States' governments, especially with a view to promote LGBT rights.
One noteworthy example was a Resolution adopted in September 2009, in which the EP condemned a "Law on the Protection of Minors", which was then under discussion in Lithuania, as "homophobic" and requested the FRA to issue a legal opinion on whether the draft law was compatible with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Lithuanian Parliament, however, responded by adopting a Resolution that condemned the EP's Resolution as an "illegal act" (pointing to the fact that the FRA explicitly has no mandate to examine the legislation adopted by Member States) and requesting the Lithuanian Government to take legal action against the EP before the European Court of Justice
European Court of Justice
The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
. Following this, the FRA from its side informed the EP that it was not going to issue the requested legal opinion.
More recently, the European Parliament has tasked the Agency to continue research started by MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
s into homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Publications of the Fundamental Rights Agency
Since its inception, the FRA has published reports which are available online. A full list of publications is given on the FRA website. This section discusses reports that have seen significant attention from outside observers.Report: Annual report 2008
The Annual Report 2008 covered racism and xenophobia in each of the 27 Member States of the EU for the year 2007. It covered the following areas:
- legal and institutional initiatives against racism and discrimination;
- racist violence and crime;
- racism and discrimination and preventive initiatives in employment, education, housing and health care;
- developments in EU policy and legislation relevant to combating racism and xenophobia.
It concluded that implementation of the EU’s anti-discrimination legislation was patchy and there was a lack of awareness about legal redress open to victims of discrimination, and stressed the importance of equality bodies in making the Racial Equality Directive work and the importance of sanctions in raising public awareness about the legislation.
Report: Homophobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation in the EU Member States Part I – Legal Analysis
This report was the first major project of the newly created FRA. It identified inequalities in treatment and legal protection for LGBT people, particularly with regard to same sex partnerships, and noted that homophobia could be combatted more effectively using EU-wide criminal legislation. It also noted that 18 out of 27 EU Member States had already gone beyond minimum EU requirements and provided for legal protection against sexual orientation discrimination in employment, access to public goods and services, housing and social benefits.
It criticised the existence of a "hierarchy of grounds of discrimination" (meaning that legal protection against, inter alia, racism was stronger than protection against homophobia) and argued that more comprehensive legal protection and wider powers and resources for "equality bodies" were required.
Report: Incident report on violent attacks against Roma in Italy
This 2008 report provides information regarding the Roma, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. The report provides facts and background information in relation to the situation of Roma in Italy, specifically the Ponticelli district.
European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia
The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia was also based in Vienna. It grew from the Commission on Racism and Xenophobia (CRX), established in 1994, and also known as the Kahn Commission. The CRX was transformed into the EUMC in June 1998; officially established by Council Regulation (EC) No 1035/97 of 2 June 1997.Publications of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia
- Sources: FRA > Publications
EUMC published reports are available from the website here of the FRA, the EUMC successor agency. A selection is given below.
Report: Working Definition of Antisemitism
In 2005, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (now Fundamental Rights Agency), published a working definition of antisemitism, whose stated purpose was to "provide a guide for identifying incidents, collecting data and supporting the implementation and enforcement of legislation dealing with antisemitism." The working definition states: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."
It provides contemporary examples of antisemitism, which include: promoting the harming of Jews in the name of an ideology or religion; promoting negative stereotypes of Jews; holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of an individual Jewish person or group; denying the Holocaust or accusing Jews or Israel of exaggerating it; and accusing Jews of dual loyalty or a greater allegiance to Israel than their own country.
It also states that ‘Examples of the ways in which antisemitism manifests itself with regard to the State of Israel taking into account the overall context could include:’
- Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
- Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
- Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libelBlood libelBlood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
) to characterize Israel or Israelis. - Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
- Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
However, the document stated that criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic '
The FRA, in a document entitled 'Data collection and research activities on racism and xenophobia by the EUMC (2000-2006) Lessons learned for the EU Fundamental Rights Agency Working Paper 2007', stated regarding the definition:
In order to facilitate the data collection work of NFPs the EUMC developed, together with the OSCE/ODIHRThe working definition has been adopted or is used by a number of European and other organisations which monitor and combat hate crimes, including the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of EuropeOffice for Democratic Institutions and Human RightsThe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe dealing with the "human dimension" of security. The office, originally named Office for Free Elections, was created in 1990 by the Charter of Paris and...
and Jewish organisations, and on the basis of consultation with experts, a guide to data collection on anti-Semitic incidents. (This followed on from an earlier report in which it had identified the lack of both legal and operational definitions regarding anti-Semitism). The guide includes a proposal for a non-legal working definition to be used at national level by primary datacollecting agencies. Following feedback by the NFPs and other stakeholders the guide, which is considered as ‘work in progress’, will be reviewed.’
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, and the National Union of Students
National Union of Students
-British Isles:*National Union of Students**National Union of Students-Union of Students in Ireland**National Union of Students Scotland**National Union of Students Wales-Scandinavia:*Danish National Union of Students*National Union of Students in Finland...
in the UK.
Brian Klug
Brian Klug
Brian Klug is Senior Research Fellow & Tutor in Philosophy at St. Benet's Hall, Oxford and a member of the philosophy faculty at Oxford University...
argues that this definition proscribes legitimate criticism of the human rights record of the Israeli Government by attempting to bring any criticism of Israel into the category of antisemitism, and does not sufficiently distinguish between criticism of Israeli actions and criticism of Zionism as a political ideology, on the one hand, and racially based violence towards, discrimination against, or abuse of, Jews. Sociologist Paul Igansky states that parallels between Israeli policy and those of the Nazis are "arguably not intrinsically antisemitic", and that the context in which they are made is critical. Igansky illustrates this with the incident where Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
was described by fellow Jewish Israelis as cooperating with the Nazis, and depicted wearing an SS uniform. According to Igansky, the "Nazi" label was merely used as "charged political rhetoric" in this case.
The working definition has been described by David Hirsh
David Hirsh
David Hirsh is a Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the founder of Engage, a campaign against academic boycotts of Israel....
as "part of the terrain on which political struggles are conducted by, amongst others, academics". In 2008 a UK Government publication stated that "[t]he Government's position on the definition" was that it "was a work in progress that had not yet been recommended to Member States for adoption."
Report: Rise in antisemitic attacks in the EU
In 2003 a report labeled 'Manifestations of antisemitism in the EU 2002 – 2003' was published.It detailed a rise in attacks targeting Jewish businesses, synagogues, cemeteries and individuals. The countries with the most significant number of attacks were Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and the UK. It is the only report made by the EUMC on antisemitism.
Report: Rise of Islamophobic attacks in the EU following 9/11
The largest monitoring project ever to be commissioned regarding IslamophobiaIslamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
was undertaken following 9/11 by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC).
From a total of 75 reports, 15 from each member state, a synthesis report, entitled "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001", was published in May 2002.
The report highlighted occasions in which citizens abused and sometimes violently attacked Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s. Discrimination included verbal abuse, indiscriminately accusing Muslims of responsibility for the attacks, removing women's hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
, spitting, using the name "Usama" as a pejorative epithet, and assaults. The report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated."
Criticism of the FRA
The FRA attracted criticism even before it was created. The need for a new human rights institution was questioned given that human rights policy was a principal concern of the Council of EuropeCouncil of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
(CoE), of which all EU member states were also members. Terry Davis, then secretary-general of the CoE, was quoted with the remark: "With all the best will in the world, I can't understand what it (i.e. the new Agency) is going to do." However, by 2007 he stated "I welcome the decision by the EU Council of Ministers to create a new Fundamental Rights Agency to scrutinise EU institutions and the application of EU laws. This is an important and challenging task."
Eurosceptics
Euroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
have criticised the Agency's cost and its perceived lack of transparency and ideological bias. For example, a member of the Agency's own Advisory Panel, Gudrun Kugler, has criticised the Agency's disproportionate interest in "homophobia", which left little room for dealing with other human rights abuses.
English Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MEP Charles Tannock
Charles Tannock
Dr Timothy Charles Ayrton Tannock is a British politician, psychiatrist, and Member of the European Parliament for London for the Conservative Party. He was first elected to the European Parliament in 1999...
said in 2005 that "the Agency will duplicate work of other bodies". In 2007 the British Conservative MEP Syed Kamall
Syed Kamall
Dr Syed Salah Kamall is a British Conservative Party politician, Member of the European Parliament for London.Kamall was born and brought up in London. He is married with two children. He was educated at The Latymer School, Edmonton...
said: "The Fundamental Rights Agency will take £20m (30m euros) of taxpayers' money and use it to advance a partisan agenda with little accountability to anyone".. Also in 2007 Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson
Struan Stevenson
Struan Stevenson is a Scottish politician. He is a Member of the European Parliament for Scotland and Vice Chair of the Committee on Fisheries, in addition to which, he is member of the Executive of the Scottish Conservative party.-Political career:Stevenson served his early political career as...
spoke of a "quangocracy... every craze and fad that comes along, they say we must set up a new agency. A lot of them are playing to the gallery of political correctness."
In 2010 the conservative German newspaper Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
reported that the centre-right French politician Pierre Lellouche
Pierre Lellouche
Pierre Lellouche is a French politician and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement party. He is Secretary of State for Foreign Trade under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde. He was also the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from November 2004 to 17...
, then EU minister in the Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
government, questioned "the added value" of the FRA when the Council of Europe already took care of human rights.
A briefing published in October 2010 by the London-based eurosceptic think tank Open Europe
Open Europe
Open Europe is an influential eurosceptic think-tank and interest group, founded in London by some UK business people, with offices in London and Brussels. While Open Europe does not advocate British withdrawal from the European Union, it is critical of the process of European integration and has...
proposed the abolition of the FRA along with ten other agencies and institutes.
In 2008 the Irish 'pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
, pro-family' lobbyist Patrick Buckley criticised the Agency for having "outsourced its key competence of providing expertise relating to fundamental rights" through a contract with the FRALEX network of outside legal experts.. A Belgian lawyer and anti-abortion activist, Jakob Cornides, in 2010 was also critical of the FRALEX contract, and of the FRA for having published a report in which it was asserted that EU Member States were bound by international law to confer to (unmarried!) gay couples the same rights and benefits as to married couples. In actual fact, Cornides argued, there is not only no international obligation to that effect, but there also is not a single country in the world that actually provides for such "equality"; the FRA's findings were thus plainly wrong.
See also
- All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-SemitismAll-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-SemitismThe All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom chaired by John Mann MP.The Group commissioned the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism in 2005...
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European UnionCharter of Fundamental Rights of the European UnionThe Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union citizens and residents, into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaimed on 7 December 2000 by the European Parliament, the Council of...
- Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsThe Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is a standing committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
- Committee on Women's Rights and Gender EqualityCommittee on Women's Rights and Gender EqualityThe Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality is a committee of the European Parliament.-Chair:-Members:*BASTOS, Regina *BAUER, Edit *BOZKURT, Emine *ČEŠKOVÁ, Andrea *CORNELISSEN, Marije *COSTA, Silvia *CYMAŃSKI, Tadeusz...
- European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs & Equal OpportunitiesEuropean Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs & Equal OpportunitiesThe Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is the member of the European Commission. The current commissioner is László Andor....
- European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & SecurityEuropean Commissioner for Justice, Freedom & SecurityThe Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship is a post in the European Commission. The current commissioner is Viviane Reding....
- European Court of JusticeEuropean Court of JusticeThe Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- LGBT rights in the European UnionLGBT rights in the European UnionLGBT rights in the European Union are protected under the European Union's treaties and law. Homosexuality is legal in all EU states and discrimination in employment has been banned since 2000...
External links
- Agency website
- The European Fundamental Rights Agency comes into existence on 1 March 2007
- The EU Fundamental Rights Agency: Satellite or Guiding Star? Raison d'etre, tasks and challenges of the EU's new agency Details and analysis by Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
- Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007 of 15 February 2007