GRACE aims to strengthen the protection and promotion of fundamental rights through improved implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Member States which have been vulnerable to a deterioration in the application of fundamental rights and the Rule of Law. By conducting capacity building activities and establishing a systematic and comprehensive monitoring mechanism for Charter implementation, the project seeks to evaluate and bridge existing gaps; advocate for appropriate reforms; and raise public awareness of the critical importance of respect for and promotion of the fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter.
Extending to three Member States –Bulgaria, Romania and Greece-, while drawing on expertise from Belgium, the project at hand is a transnational partnership of civil society organizations, engaging local and state administrations, Members of Parliament and the legislative branches of the participating countries, as well as individuals.
ELIAMEP is the implementing partner in Greece.
The gist of the project revolves around the development of a methodology for monitoring the Charter implementation through the set-up of an EU Charter Implementation Index. The methodology would provide a systematic approach to creating an index that measures and ranks countries’ performances across critical areas of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, using a robust and transparent method of data standardisation and aggregation.
Following this, capacity-building initiatives will be provided to raise awareness of the Charter and equip the project’s target civil society with the tools to monitor its implementation effectively. In parallel, similar training and advocacy will be offered to national and local administrations to improve their understanding of the Charter’s application requirements and principles. Additionally, network building will be promoted, in order to establish a robust network of civil society organisations, public authorities and other stakeholders to ensure continuous collaboration and advocacy for implementation of the EU Charter beyond the project timeline. Finally, the goal of sustainability will be achieved through a robust strategy focusing on building a community of practice that can carry forward the lessons learnt and the tools developed throughout the project. This will include creating a long-term network and repository resources that civil society and public officials will continue to use after the project concludes.
Consortium
Coordinator:
Center for Regulatory Impact Assessment (CRIA)-Bulgaria
Participants:
Romanian Center for European Policies (CRPE)-Romania
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)-Greece
European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)- Belgium
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)-Belgium
Institute of Public Administration (IPA)-Bulgaria
Access the project description on the EU’s Funding and Tender portal here.
Funding
Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV)
Project coordinator
Eva Tzavala
Experts
Dimitris Kollias
Fani Stathoulopoulou
“Funded by the European Union (grant no. 101214705). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.”
