Geography & Spatial Planning

FRANET National Focal Point in Luxembourg

Department of Geography and Spatial Planning
The Department of Geography and Spatial Planning is hosting the FRANET National Focal Point in Luxembourg for the European Union Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) since 2018. The Agency is an independent centre of reference and excellence for promoting and protecting human rights in the EU.

FRANET is the Agency’s multidisciplinary research network. It is composed of contractors in each EU Member State, the UK and in countries which have Observer status. Upon request, the contractors provide reports and relevant data on fundamental rights issues to FRA in order to facilitate the Agency’s comparative analyses.

In November 2018  the University of Luxembourg, the department of Geography and Spatial Planning  has become the FRANET National Focal Point in Luxembourg for the European Union Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA). As national contractor, the University of Luxembourg produces various reports on the human rights situation in Luxembourg touching upon a variety of topics, thereby assisting FRA to monitor the protection of fundamental rights in the country. The mandate covers several topics, among others, access to justice; asylum, migration & borders; hate crime; information society, privacy and data protection; LGBTIQ+; people with disabilities and racism & related intolerances.

Until today the University of Luxembourg has contributed to the work of FRA by delivering reports in the following topics:

  • Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in the EU – impact on fundamental rights (March 2020 – November 2020)
  • Fundamental Rights Impact of the EU Terrorism Directive (April 2020)
  • Long-term residence permits (April 2020)
  • Severe labour exploitation and the Employers Sanction Directive (April 2020)
  • Justice for all? Equal access to criminal justice for all victims of crimes against the person (April 2020) 
  • Data collection on experiences of discrimination on grounds of disability  and on grounds of age in the area of  employment and occupation 
  • Contributing to the FRA Fundamental Rights Report 2020 (January 2020)
  • Analysing the use of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights at national level (January 2020)
  • Reporting on legal aid in return procedures (February 2020) 
  • Updating the FRA Anti-Muslim Hatred Database 2019 (September 2019 and September 2020)

More information about FRANET in Luxembourg: franetluxembourg.uni.lu