On discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for the financial year 2022

Key points

1. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control to incorporate its suggestions into its motion for a resolution on the discharge for FRA's 2022 budget.¶
2. It welcomes the Court of Auditors' declaration that FRA's 2022 transactions were legal and regular, but notes the Court's observation on recurrent high carry-overs of €6.4 million (26%) of available 2022 commitment appropriations to 2023.¶
3. It notes FRA's reply that its specific framework makes it difficult to commit operational expenditure earlier and to fully avoid carry-overs, and stresses FRA's good budget implementation with an outturn higher than 99% in the last ten years.
4. It notes with satisfaction FRA's assistance in identifying trends in anti-discrimination, artificial intelligence, and its legislative and policy advice on children's rights, victims' rights, counter-terrorism, data protection, anti-racism, anti-semitism, ethnic minorities, LGBTIQ people and other vulnerable groups.¶
5. It recognises FRA's quick reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, including being one of the first EU agencies at the border, monitoring the situation, preparing a report, two bulletins and an online survey.¶
6. It welcomes FRA's guidance on establishing national independent mechanisms to monitor fundamental rights compliance at EU external borders and its assistance to member states in setting up or strengthening such mechanisms, ensuring safeguards for their independence.
7. It recalls that international law requires non-discriminatory treatment for all refugees.
8. It welcomes FRA's initiatives to foster synergies across EU agencies, including co-chairing the Frontex Consultative Forum, attending Frontex Management Board meetings, delivering training to CEPOL, Frontex and eu-LISA, participating in Europol's security work, and cooperating with EIGE on the Violence against Women Survey II.¶
9. It notes with satisfaction that FRA largely exceeded its key performance indicator targets and maintained high stakeholder satisfaction, producing 28 publications, 3,062 research outputs, 342 written or verbal inputs, organising or co-organising 134 meetings and events, and receiving 4,319 media references in 2022.¶
10. It welcomes the high level of stakeholder satisfaction with FRA's activities to promote cooperation through the Fundamental Rights Platform in 2022, including the fourth Fundamental Rights Dialogue with young people and other workshops and webinars.¶
11. It acknowledges FRA's role in empowering national human rights infrastructure, its guidance on asylum and migration, and its work to foster a human rights-based narrative through communications, digital tools and bringing together human rights actors.¶