How can Europe safeguard equality and human rights amid growing political pressure, rising polarisation and rapid technological change? These were among the central questions discussed at ECRI’s 2025 Annual Seminar with Equality Bodies, held in Strasbourg on 23-24 October 2025.

The seminar, organised in cooperation with the European Network for Equality Bodies (EQUINET) and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), brought together equality bodies, civil society representatives and specialists to exchange experiences and identify practical responses to current challenges.

Participants highlighted that equality bodies across Europe are increasingly facing pressure, including political interference, budgetary constraints, delegitimisation campaigns and legal changes that affect their independence and effectiveness. These developments are taking place against a broader backdrop in which racist and intolerant narratives continue to target migrants, Muslims, Jews, Roma and Travellers, people of African descent and LGBTI persons, with real consequences for access to justice, protection systems and public trust in institutions.

A key focus of the discussions was the need to close the gap between standards on equal rights and their implementation. Participants stressed that recommendations issued by European and international human rights bodies such as ECRI and CERD must increasingly be translated into practical tools, including through legislation, parliamentary work, professional training and reporting processes.

The seminar also explored emerging risks linked to digital transformation. Participants noted that artificial intelligence is already shaping areas such as policing, migration management and access to basic services, and warned that without effective safeguards, algorithmic systems risk generating, reproducing or amplifying discrimination. Ensuring that equality considerations guide digital transformation was identified as essential for democratic governance.

More broadly, the seminar reaffirmed the role of equality bodies as part of Europe’s democratic infrastructure and underlined the importance of giving them strong legal mandates, adequate resources and ensuring close cooperation between national, European and international actors.

The full article is available on ECRI’s LinkedIn account.

The full event report is available here.