CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

Although the constitutions of most European states contained a bill of rights in the middle of the last century, the treaties on the European Communities did not include provisions on fundamental human rights - neither in the initial version nor in any amended version. Following 'encouragements' by national courts, the European Court of Justice established, however, a certain level of protection of fundamental human rights in its case law. In 2000, the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission solemnly declared the 'Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union'. Paragraph 4 of the Preamble of the Charter states that 'it is necessary to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights … by making those rights more visible in a Charter'. The Charter formed, in a slightly amended version, part II of the 'Treaty establishing a Constitution of Europe', which was rejected by referenda in France and the Netherlands in 2005. The Court of Justice was initially hesitant to refer to the Charter at all in its judgments. The Court has referred, however, in its recent case law, to recitals of acts of secondary law in which the Community legislature acknowledges the importance of Charter or certain Charter articles. Art. 6(1) Treaty on European Union according to the Treaty of Lisbon contains a clause according to which the Charter, in the form adopted in December 2007, 'shall have the same legal value as the Treaties'. Furthermore, the amended form of the Treaty on European Union contains, in Art. 6(3) TEU, a provision on the protection of fundamental rights as general principles of law comparable to Art. 6(2) Treaty on European Union according to the Treaty of Nice.

Union Citizenship - Metaphor or Source of Rights?

The first part of this discussion seeks to determine whether the inauguration of citizenship of the EU can be classed as a simple political metaphor without any additional significance or whether it can be considered as extending the scope of the rights already existing in the European Treaties, particularly in respect of the right of the free movement of persons. Consequently, specific focus in the paper will be upon the citizens' right to move freely and reside within the territory of the Member States (Reich, 2001).

The move from the European Community to that of European Union was reflected in a number of specific EC Treaty provisions, including the enlargement of competence in the fields of education and culture, and of course the launch of the sacred status of citizenship of the Union. The Treaty on European Union (here after referred to as TEU or Treaty of Maastricht) has introduced for the first time a systematic concept of citizenship in the Community ambit through Articles 17 to 22 (renumbered after the Treaty of Amsterdam). Article 17 states that Citizenship of the Union is hereby established and that every citizen holding the nationality of the Member State shall be a citizen of ...