Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Fundamental Rights Agency and Civil Society: Reminding the gardeners of their plants’ roots

Kjaerum, Morten LU and Toggenburg, Gabriel (2012) In European Diversity and Autonomy Papers
Abstract
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the EU body
responsible for advising EU institutions on fundamental rights, is equipped with a Fundamental Rights Platform (FRP) to ensure an on-going and structured
exchange of information and feedback between the FRA and Civil Society. When
the FRA was founded in 2007, there was little pre-existing knowledge on how to
design such a Platform; hence, the development of the relationship between the
FRA and Civil Society over the first five years proved an interesting experiment.
Although the Platform was never intended as a mechanism of democratic codecision making, it is far more than a loose marketplace where Civil Society
actors across the spectrum of... (More)
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the EU body
responsible for advising EU institutions on fundamental rights, is equipped with a Fundamental Rights Platform (FRP) to ensure an on-going and structured
exchange of information and feedback between the FRA and Civil Society. When
the FRA was founded in 2007, there was little pre-existing knowledge on how to
design such a Platform; hence, the development of the relationship between the
FRA and Civil Society over the first five years proved an interesting experiment.
Although the Platform was never intended as a mechanism of democratic codecision making, it is far more than a loose marketplace where Civil Society
actors across the spectrum of fundamental rights themes gather. The Platform
offers channels of consultation and exchange not only among the participants but also with the FRA. It allows for cross-pollination, ensuring informed grassroots input into FRA work and FRA expertise flow to Civil Society actors. This synergetic relationship builds upon both the self-organising forces of Civil Society and the terms of references of the FRP as defined by the FRA. The Platform allows to find a certain unity in the remarkable diversity of fundamental rights voices. To what degree, however, the Platform’s dynamics allow the
transformation of sometimes ‘compartmentalised’ single human rights discussions into wider trans-sectoral and transnational debates within the Human Rights Community depends on the motivation and the interest(s) of the different Civil Society players. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
in
European Diversity and Autonomy Papers
pages
20 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5e80ce66-72cb-458e-b8b3-6d7d7840aebf
date added to LUP
2016-09-15 14:50:53
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:25:50
@article{5e80ce66-72cb-458e-b8b3-6d7d7840aebf,
  abstract     = {{The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the EU body<br/>responsible for advising EU institutions on fundamental rights, is equipped with a Fundamental Rights Platform (FRP) to ensure an on-going and structured<br/>exchange of information and feedback between the FRA and Civil Society. When<br/>the FRA was founded in 2007, there was little pre-existing knowledge on how to<br/>design such a Platform; hence, the development of the relationship between the<br/>FRA and Civil Society over the first five years proved an interesting experiment.<br/>Although the Platform was never intended as a mechanism of democratic codecision making, it is far more than a loose marketplace where Civil Society<br/>actors across the spectrum of fundamental rights themes gather. The Platform<br/>offers channels of consultation and exchange not only among the participants but also with the FRA. It allows for cross-pollination, ensuring informed grassroots input into FRA work and FRA expertise flow to Civil Society actors. This synergetic relationship builds upon both the self-organising forces of Civil Society and the terms of references of the FRP as defined by the FRA. The Platform allows to find a certain unity in the remarkable diversity of fundamental rights voices. To what degree, however, the Platform’s dynamics allow the<br/>transformation of sometimes ‘compartmentalised’ single human rights discussions into wider trans-sectoral and transnational debates within the Human Rights Community depends on the motivation and the interest(s) of the different Civil Society players.}},
  author       = {{Kjaerum, Morten and Toggenburg, Gabriel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  series       = {{European Diversity and Autonomy Papers}},
  title        = {{The Fundamental Rights Agency and Civil Society: Reminding the gardeners of their plants’ roots}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}