The agency consults and cooperates with the EP primarily through its committees, in particular the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). FRA participates in committee meetings, hearings and public seminars, where it provides fundamental rights expertise to assist ongoing policy and legislative debates. It responds to queries by members and staffers at the EP, and also presents the findings of its research to relevant Intergroups, such as the Intergroup on LGBT rights, Disability or Anti-Racism and Diversity.
For more information about how the agency supports the work of the European Parliament see the following interview with Claude Moraes MEP, chair of the LIBE Committee.
The EP can make a specific request for a FRA Opinion concerning a legislative proposal from the Commission or positions taken by the EU institutions in the course of the legislative procedure. For example, FRA delivered an Opinion on the draft Directive regarding the European Investigation Order and an Opinion on the proposed EU law on the property consequences of registered international partnerships in response to requests from the EP.
Each year, FRA presents its annual report on fundamental rights to Members of the European Parliament in the LIBE Committee. In this way, FRA provides substantial input for the parliament’s own annual report on the situation of fundamental rights.
FRA also organises joint events with the EP to foster debate between policy makers and experts on specific fundamental rights issues. The 2012 Fundamental Rights Conference took place under the high patronage of the President of the European Parliament, and was organised in cooperation with the LIBE Committee and the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI).
