Importance of EU Charter grows as citizens stand to benefit
15 Apr 2014 04:18 PM
The
4th annual report published by the European Commission on the application
of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, shows that the importance and
prominence of the EU Charter continues to rise: the Court of Justice of the EU
increasingly applies the Charter in its decisions while national judges are
more and more aware of the Charter's impact and seek guidance from the
European Court of Justice. The European Commission has also progressively
sought to bring the Charter to life by taking action to promote and defend the
rights of EU citizens laid down in the Charter. Since 2010, the European
Commission has put in place a 'fundamental rights checklist' and as a
result screens every legislative proposal to ensure it is
"fundamental-rights proof". The annual report on the application of
the Charter tracks the progress made and identifies challenges and concerns. It
shows: the European Commission places fundamental rights at the heart of all EU
policies.
"Almost four years after the European
Commission presented its strategy on the implementation of the EU Charter, we
have succeeded in strengthening the fundamental rights culture in the EU
institutions. All Commissioners take an oath on the Fundamental Rights Charter,
we check every European legislative proposal to ensure it is up to standard
with the Charter and European and national courts have progressively made the
Charter a reference point in their judgements,” said
Vice-President Viviane Reding, the EU’s Commissioner for Justice,
Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. “I am glad to see the Charter is
now fully alive serving as a real safety net for our citizens and as a compass
for EU institutions, Member States and courts alike. I could imagine that one
day citizens in the Member States will be able to rely directly on the Charter
– without the need for a clear link to EU law. The Charter
should be Europe's very own Bill of Rights."
The
report issued provides a comprehensive overview of how fundamental rights have
been successfully implemented in the EU over the past year. It highlights, for
example, guidance given by the European Court of Justice to national
judges on the applicability of the Charter when implementing EU law at national
level (the much debated Åkerberg Fransson judgment in 2013). It
also shows how the rights enshrined in the Charter are taken into careful
consideration by the EU institutions when proposing and adopting EU
legislation, while Member States are only bound by the Charter when they
implement EU policies and law at national level. Finally, the report gives
examples of where fundamental rights enshrined in the EU Charter played a role
in infringement proceedings launched by the Commission against Member
States.
The
report also reveals that there is a high interest among citizens
in fundamental rights issues: in 2013 the issues most frequently
raised by citizens in their correspondence with Europe Direct Contact Centres
were free movement and residence (48% of the total number of enquiries),
consumer rights issues (12%), judicial cooperation (11%), questions related to
citizenship (10%), anti-discrimination and social rights (5%) and data
protection (4%) (see Annex 1).
Two
ways of making the Charter a reality
1.
Commission action to promote the Charter
Where the EU has competence to act,
the Commission can propose EU legislation that
defends the rights and principles of the Charter.
Examples of Commission
proposals in 2013 include:
-
Five legal measures to boost safeguards for
EU citizens in criminal proceedings (IP/13/1157,MEMO/13/1046). These include measures to guarantee
respect for the presumption of innocence of all citizens suspected or accused
by police and judicial authorities, the right to be present at trial, making
sure children have special safeguards when facing criminal proceedings and
guaranteeing access to provisional legal aid at the early stages of proceedings
and especially for people subject to a European Arrest
Warrant.
There was a need to balance criminal law measures
already in place (such as the European Arrest Warrant) with legal instruments
that give strong defence rights for citizens in line with the Charter.
Strong EU-wide standards for procedural rights and victims’
rights are central to strengthening mutual trust in the European
Justice area. In this regard, the adoption of a Directive on
the right of access to a lawyer in 2013 constitutes
another milestone (IP/13/921).
-
Roma integration is another area
where the EU continues to reinforce protection of equal rights and promote the
adoption of positive measures. The Commission reviews progress of national Roma
integration strategies and outlined first results in the 28 EU countries (IP/14/371). In addition, all Member States committed to improve the
economic and social integration of Roma communities, through the unanimous
adoption of a Council Recommendation that the Commission had put forward in
June 2013 (IP/13/1226, IP/13/607).
Examples of enforcement action
(infringements) in 2013 include:
-
Following legal action, the Commission ensured
that Austria's data protection authority is no
longer part of the Federal Chancellery but has its own budget and staff and is
thus independent; whileHungary took measures, in March
2013, to comply with the Court's judgement on the forced early retirement
of 274 judges (MEMO/12/832).
2.
Courts relying on the Charter
The
European Union Courts have increasingly referred to the Charter in their
decisions and have further clarified its applicability. The number of decisions
of EU Courts (Court of Justice, general Court and Civil service Tribunal)
quoting the Charter in their reasoning went from 43 in 2011 to 87 in
2012. In 2013, 114 decisions quoted the EU Charter, which
is almost three times the number of cases of 2011 (see Annex
2).
Likewise, national courts have also increasingly
referred to the Charter when addressing questions to the Court of Justice
(preliminary rulings): in 2012, such references rose by 65% as compared to
2011, from 27 to 41. In 2013 the number of referrals remained at
41, the same as in 2012.
Increasing the reference to the Charter is an important
step forward, to build a more coherent system for
the protection of fundamental rights which guarantees equal levels of rights
and protection in all Member States, whenever EU law is being
implemented.
Increasing public references to the Charter have led to
an improved awareness of the Charter: In 2013, the
Commission received almost 4000 letters from the
general public regarding fundamental rights issues. Of these, only 31%
concerned situations which entirely fell outside EU competence (against 69% in
2010 and 42% in 2012). This shows that the Commission’s efforts to raise
awareness of how and where the Charter applies are paying off. The Commission
also received over 900 questions from the European
Parliament and around 120 petitions.
Finally, the report also draws attention to the progress
made on the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR). In April 2013, the draft agreement on the EU’s accession to the
ECHR was finalised, which is a milestone in the accession process. As a next
step, the Commission has asked the Court to give its opinion on the draft
agreement.
The
report issued is accompanied by a progress report in implementing the European
strategy forequality between women and men during
2013 (see IP/14/423).
Background
With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1
December 2009, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union became
legally binding. The Charter sets out fundamental rights – such as the
freedom of expression and the protection of personal data – which reflect
Europe’s common values and its constitutional heritage.
In
October 2010, the Commission adopted a strategy to ensure that the Charter is effectively
implemented. It developed a "Fundamental Rights Check List"
(Annex 3) to reinforce the evaluation of impacts on fundamental rights of its
legislative proposals. The Commission also committed to providing information
to citizens on when it can intervene in fundamental rights issues and to
publishing an Annual Report on the Charter’s application to monitor the
progress achieved.
The
Commission is working with the relevant authorities at national, regional and
local, as well as at EU level to better inform people about their fundamental
rights and where to go for help if they feel their rights have been infringed.
The Commission now provides practical information on enforcing one's rights
via theEuropean e-Justice portal and has set up a dialogue on handling
fundamental rights complaints with ombudsmen, equality bodies and human rights
institutions.
The
Charter is addressed, first and foremost, to the EU institutions. It
complements national systems and does not replace them. Member States are
subject to their own constitutional systems and to the fundamental rights set
out in these. The concrete steps to implement the Charter have fostered a
fundamental rights reflex when the Commission prepares new legislative and
policy proposals. This approach is essential throughout the EU decision-making
process, including when the European Parliament and Council, where Member
States are represented, make amendments to proposals prepared by the
Commission.
For
more information
MEMO/14/284
Press pack: Fundamental rights and gender equality
reports:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/fundamental-rights/news/140414_en.ht
m
European Commission – Fundamental
rights:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/fundamental-rights/index_en.htm
Vice President Reding on Fundamental Rights: From words
to actions:
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/assises-justice-2013/files/factsheets/
fundamental_rights_en.pdf
Homepage of Vice-President Viviane Reding, EU Justice
Commissioner: http://ec.europa.eu/reding
Follow the Vice-President on Twitter: @VivianeRedingEU
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