The coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty will give a greater role to the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency
THE FUNDAMENTAL Rights Agency is one of the lesser-known institutions of the EU. Yet it occupies a large building next door to the French embassy in Vienna, employs 65 staff, which is set to rise to 120 this year. It also has just had its remit extended by the European Parliament to monitor issues such as access to justice, asylum and data protection as well as minority rights.
The agency has its origins in the EU Monitoring Committee on Racism and Xenophobia, which compiled evidence on racism and racist incidents in the EU. This was particularly important at the time of the accession of new states, as most of them had little experience of the anti- discrimination machinery of the older member states.
In 2007 the monitoring committee was replaced by the rights agency, with Irish academic Anastacia Crickley, who is head of Applied Social Studies in NUI Maynooth, in the chair. In June 2008, it appointed as director Morten Kjaerum, former head of the Danish Human Rights Commission and by the end of this year it had a senior management team in place.
"Our role is to give evidence- based advice to EU institutions and governments, at both national and local level," its head of communications, Friso Roscam Abbing, told The Irish Times.
"There is a need for joined-up thinking at this level. Local authorities can have more impact on an individual's life."
He described the agency's work as providing a "high-resolution photograph" of a situation in a specific place at a specific time, linked to recommendations. These recommendations are drawn from best practice to be found on the ground in other EU countries.
One such example, according to Ms Crickley, was South Dublin County Council, whose policy on housing Travellers was put forward as an example of best practice applicable to groups like the Roma in other EU states.
The recently-published EU-Midas survey on discrimination against ethnic minorities in the EU, commissioned by the rights agency from Gallup and published in December, quantified and described the type of discrimination experienced by various ethnic groups across the EU. One of its most disturbing findings was that most members of minorities were unaware that discrimination against them was illegal and that machinery existed to combat it.
Earlier this year, the agency also carried out a survey on homophobia in the EU, examining both discrimination in the legal area and the practical effects on discrimination on the ground.
"Since that survey, EU member states no longer say there isn't a problem," Mr Kjaerum said. "What our work so far has led to is a high level of acknowledgement that we have a problem. Things that aren't measured are difficult to address."
He acknowledged that the agency was not well-known, though it is known to EU institutions and NGOs working in various areas.
Ms Crickley said its strategy had been to work with "fundamental rights platforms" made up of NGOs, trade unions, community organisations and academic experts, where suggestions could be made for the agency's work and these bodies could transmit information to their constituencies.
With the coming into force of the Lisbon Treat, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding and there was a need for assistance and expertise relating to fundamental rights, provided by the agency, she said.
Referring to the work of national anti-discrimination bodies, Mr Kjaerum said: "It is in times of crisis that we need these institutions the most. That is when people are most vulnerable to scapegoating. The difference between the 1930s and today is that we have organisations that can raise the alarm about scape-goating and other problems. We have a stronger human rights tool-box."
Mr Abbing said: "We want to be a relevant and useful agency, for all EU citizens, not just minorities."
The agency was now working on a report on data protection from the standpoint of the protection of fundamental rights, he added.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights is now part of the Lisbon Treaty, the recently agreed Stockholm Programme on justice and human rights refers to the FRA providing advice during the legislative process.
The agency is also examining the problem of access to justice, starting with the need for people who are marginalised to feel they can trust law-enforcement agencies to help them.
Mr Abbing acknowledged that there was a worrying rise in populist parties which targeted immigrants and other minorities.
"Our contribution is not to react to incidents but to change the agenda and the way these things are discussed with reliable data and evidence-based advice," he said. "In due time, I believe the facts will improve the climate of the debate."