The Charter

of Fundamental
Rights of the
European Union

What is it?
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) is a legislatively
binding document that applies to all European Union (EU) members to highlight the
rights and freedoms that's they hold. It is said to be the European Unions own version
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the most updated compared to the
ECHR) in ordeer to set and enforce the standard of living as a human in an EU state. It
was created in 2000 but was enforced starting in 2009.

Why was it created?

This charter was created to protect and further develop ‘human rights’ within the
European Union and to secure an effective way to enforce them (it has the amount of
legal power of a treaty) as all EU states had developed their own rights at different
points. It truly does build on the UDHR and the ECHR as it includes some of the
human rights already agreed upon, while also integrating their own standards of living
in 54 articles.
Rights of the elder
Protection of personal data
Integration of persons with disabilities

Rights of the child Right to asylum

Right of access to placement services

Strengths Weaknesses
Although it tries to unify states perceptions
of human right standards, it can still be
It is very broad and covers everyone
interpreted differently according to past
(sexual minorities, children, elders,
traditions of individual states
disabled people, etc.)
Article 6 limits the application of the charter
Article 52 makes sure to give the
in countries with pre existing ‘protocols’
charter the same amount of power as
Article 51 as well restricts the effect to only
a treaty and therefore EU primary
member states in specific circumstances and
law which results in often use in
the EU institution, consequently its not a
judgments
concrete and independent standard for the
EU

How Effective has it been?

As of September of this year about ⅓ of the country has claimed itself as ‘LGBT-free’
and in late October the government has made the motion to ban almost all abortions.
Hungary’s government has as well violated EU treaties and values in very serious ways.
The EU continues not to act in a severe enough way to claim the charter as effective,
but they are currently looking into (and have put this in action this is some parts of
Poland) cutting funding as punishment for disobeying rule of law.
The treaty has been effective in that it is a basis for EU law and has been used in many
cases in the CJEU and in sovereign states like a case of discrimination due to age in
Germany called Kücükdeveci v Swedex GmbH & Co KG (2010). As well in the current
case of Poland and Hungary, the charter helps give the EU ground on which to take
action, the problem may be that they are choosing not to.