The role of the european union charter of fundamental rights in the new european context

• Author: Oana-Mihaela Salomia
• Position: Ph.D. candidate, University 'Nicolae Titulescu'of Bucharest, counsellor for European affairs, Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports
• Pages: 180-186

180 Lex ET Scientia. Juridical Series

LESIJ NO. XIX, VOL. 2/2012

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THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION CHARTER

OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE NEW EUROPEAN CONTEXT

Oana-Mihaela SALOMIA∗

Abstract

The Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union was proclaimed by the European

Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the European Union at the European

Council held at Nice on the 7 December 2000, was modified on 12 December 2007 at Strasbourg,

and, today, according to article 6 in the Treaty on European Union, the Charter gained the juridical

value of an constitutive European treaty. The way it has been conceived, the content of the Charter

reflects the Union’s desire for the autonomy of the juridical order. The Charter clearly states the fact

that it solely seeks to protect the fundamental rights of the individuals with regard to acts undertaken

by the EU institutions and by the member states in applying of the Union treaties. A protocol to

Lisbon Treaty introduces specific measures for the United Kingdom and Poland seeking to establish

national exceptions to the application of the Charter. The new treaty provides a new legal basis for

accessing of the Union to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and

Fundamental Freedoms.

Keywords: autonomy, rights, courts, institutions, European Convention

1. Introduction:

The protection of the human rights at the European Communities and European Union level

has been increased in the same time and in a complementary way with the Convention for the

Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the case-law of the European Court of

Human Rights.

The Cologne European Council (3-4 June 1999) entrusted the task of drafting the Charter to a

Convention and she is is the end-result of a special procedure, which is without precedent in the

history of the European Union and may be summarized as follows:

• the Convention held its constituent meeting in December 1999) and adopted the draft on 2

October 2000,

• the Biarritz European Council (13-14 October 2000) unanimously approved the draft and

forwarded it to the European Parliament and the Commission,

• the European Parliament gave its agreement on 14 November 2000 and the Commission on

6 December 2000,

• the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission signed and

proclaimed the Charter on behalf of their institutions on 7 December 2000 in Nice1.

The Nice European Council decided to consider the question of the Charter's legal status

during the general debate on the future of the European Union, which was initiated on 1 January

2001. The Lisbon Treaty guarantee the enforcement of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which are

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∗ Ph.D. candidate, University “Nicolae Titulescu”of Bucharest, counsellor for European affairs, Ministry of

Education, Research, Youth and Sports (e-mail: oanas2002@yahoo.com).

1 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/default_fr.htm#