Gabriel N. Toggenburg on the New EU Fundamental Rights Agency
Prepared by Julia Meuter
The new EU Fundamental Rights Agency (EFRA) could improve the EU’s human rights policy and help create closer cooperation with other human rights institutions like the Council of Europe, says Gabriel N. Toogeburg of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. EFRA replaced the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). Although surveys reveal that human rights issues are of great importance for Europeans, the EFRA is criticised as an unnecessary bureaucratic duplication of numerous treaties and institutions already in place. Considering the European challenge of integrating immigrant populations, however, the agency’s focus on “diversity management” is an important task.
