Lecture notes
General Principles and Fundamental Rights in the EU
- Institution
- University Of Sussex (UoS)
Lecture notes of 6 pages for the course Constitutional Foundations in the EU at UoS (.)
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General Principles and Fundamental Rights in the EUKey Points of Analysis
The level and standard of protection of human rights in the EU vis-à-vis the sui
generis nature of the EU.
The influence of and relationship with the ECHR (i.e. External Bill of Rights).
The intersection between EU law and European human rights law.
Is there a general EU human rights policy?
Two ‘European’ Human Rights Regimes – Institutional Framework
EU:
The Commission.
The Council of Ministers.
The Parliament.
The Court of Justice.
The European Council.
Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Council of Europe:
Committee of Ministers.
Parliamentary Assembly.
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
Secretary General.
Commissioner for Human Rights.
European Court of Human Right.
European Convention on Human Rights.
Two ‘European’ Human Rights Regimes
Council of Europe is not equal to the EU.
Council of Europe was founded in 1949.
Regional intergovernmental HR organisation.
47 member states (27 of which are members of the EU).
All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the ECHR.
The European Court of Human Rights (based in Strasbourg) oversees the
implementation of the Convention in the member states.
Not equal to the Court of Justice of the EU (based in Luxembourg).
Individuals can bring complaints of human rights violations to the Strasbourg
Court once all possibilities of appeal have been exhausted in the member
states concerned.
ECHR
International Treaty.
Signed in 1950, entered into force in 1953.
Sets out basic civil and political rights.
First major convention created under Council of Europe.
Aims at securing the universal and effective recognition & observance of the rights
enshrined in the 1948 UDHR.
The EU’s First Approach to Human Rights
, The Treaty of the European Economic Community (EEC) omitted any reference to
human rights.
The EEC was focused on the creation of a Common Market.
Human rights concerns were (and remain) controversial aspects of the European
integration project.
Sources of EU Human Rights Law
Single European Act (SEA) 1987.
Preamble - ‘To work together to promote democracy on the basis of the
fundamental rights recognised in the constitutions and laws of the Member
States, in the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter, notably freedom,
equality and social justice’.
Article F(2) TEU (Maastricht Treaty).
Required the EU to respect FHR as general principles of EC law, as guaranteed
by the ECHR and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to
the Member States.
Article 6 TEU.
Treaty of Amsterdam:
The Union is founded on…respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms…which are common to the Member States.
The Union shall respect fundamental rights as guaranteed by the
ECHR and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to
the Member States, as general principles of Community law.
Treaty of Lisbon:
1. The Union recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out in
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7
December 2000, as adapted at Strasbourg, on 12 December 2007,
which shall have the same legal value as the Treaties.
The provisions of the Charter shall not extend in any way the
competences of the Union as defined in the Treaties.
The rights, freedoms and principles in the Charter shall be
interpreted in accordance with the general provisions in Title
VII of the Charter governing its interpretation and application
and with due regard to the explanations referred to in the
Charter, that set out the sources of those provisions.
2. The Union shall accede to the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Such
accession shall not affect the Union's competences as defined in
the Treaties.
3. Fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and
as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the
Member States, shall constitute general principles of the Union's law.
EU Human Rights
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