ENNHRI made a submission on the review of the EU’s 2010 Strategy for the effective implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, at the invitation of the European Commission. The submission is based on the insights and experience gained on the Charter’s implementation since ENNHRI’s establishment five years ago, as well as information collected from European National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) on the Charter.

The submission makes six key recommendations:

1. To place national implementation at the core of the Charter Strategy by increasing the commitment to and ownership of the Charter at EU Member State level through joined-up approaches involving all national actors in the Charter’s enforcement chain. 
2. To further recognise, build strategic cooperation with and support NHRIs as national guardians of the Charter and fundamental rights in EU Member States, in line with their unique legal mandate to promote and protect all human rights at national level.
3. To make the Charter more operational in facilitating change at the national level, including through EU monitoring and publication of country-specific findings, and through further EU financial and political support for national actors addressing implementation challenges.
4. To showcase the Charter’s added value within and in synergy with the wider human rights frameworks, including through focus on concrete areas of application and emerging fundamental rights challenges, such as COVID-19. 
5. To interconnect the Charter Strategy with the EU policies and tools in the area of rule of law and democracy, including the European Commission’s rule of law cycle and the upcoming Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy.
6. To provide better access to information on EU fundamental rights policy and law-making processes for national human rights defenders and their representative organisations, such as ENNHRI. 

» Download the submission

» Learn more about ENNHRI’s engagement with the EU

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