ABSTRACT
In this concluding Chapter 17 Rosemary Byrne and Han Entzinger as editors consider evidence-based advising for human rights policy in light of the insights of the contributors to the book on the innovative institutional and methodological precedents established by a human rights agency embedded within the EU. They explore the five themes presented in the Introduction, looking at inter alia: how the role of evidence-based policy advising confronts the Agency with the boundaries of its ambiguous mandate; how institutional embeddedness requires acceptance of different levels of independence, which would typically be seen as compromising in human rights scholarship; how technocratic evidence-gathering that seeks to influence policy invites different metrics for research success; how the rather untransparent approach to setting research agendas relates to effectiveness; and finally how regionalism and diversity create pragmatic challenges for an Agency like FRA. They conclude with reflections on stakeholders’ need to adapt the way they view this new type of institution for evidence-based policy advising for human rights and the mutual obligation and benefit for academia and FRA to engage more closely.
