On Wednesday 20 March, Robert Jan Uhl, Policy Analyst for Fair and Equal Societies at the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), presented a report to the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) outlining the issues involved in ensuring respect for fundamental rights in the implementation of EU funds.
The document, published in December 2023 and entitled ‘EU Funds – Ensuring Compliance with Fundamental Rights’, sets out the levers by which Member States can improve respect for these essential rights when allocating and using these funds, which are dedicated to developing infrastructure, education, scientific research, creating jobs and improving health throughout Europe, and which represent more than a third of the EU’s overall budget.
One of the main conclusions of the report is that civil society and human rights institutions have limited involvement in the initial design stages of EU-funded programmes. This raises concerns about inclusiveness and representativeness in the decision-making related to these funds.
In addition, the report identifies a lack of expertise specific to fundamental rights among the Member States’ authorities and the beneficiaries of the funds, as well as a lack of resources allocated to the institutions responsible for managing this European funding.
To remedy these problems, the report proposes a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening the capacity of the actors involved and ensuring more meaningful participation by fundamental rights organisations and civil society. Among these, the idea of training national civil servants and project operators in the specificities of fundamental rights stands out, underlining the need for greater awareness of these key issues.
The report also highlights the importance of establishing effective and accessible complaints mechanisms, allowing for an independent review of decisions relating to European funds on fundamental rights grounds. This measure is crucial to ensuring transparency and fairness in the use of EU resources.
Finally, the FRA’s analysis calls for concerted action by the Member States, the European Commission and the various fundamental rights stakeholders to fully integrate these essential principles into the management and use of European funds.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/bfm (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)