Introduction

Welcome to the EU Charter website. This site is a dynamic guide to the history and development of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights which was proclaimed in December 2000 and incorporated as Part Two of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe on 18 June 2004.

This website sets out in clear and precise language what the EU Charter is all about. It lists all the articles that the EU Charter contains, supported by detailed commentary, relevant case-law, articles and links.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is an important development. It is the first formal EU document to combine and declare all the values and fundamental rights (economic and social as well as civil and political) to which EU citizens should be entitled. Its main aim is to make these rights more visible. The text of the Charter does not establish new rights, but assembles existing rights that were previously scattered over a range of international sources.

Despite the no votes in France and the Netherlands against the EU Constitution which sent a shockwave through the establishment of the European Union and brought uncertainty to the existence of the EU Charter, the EU Charter will remain an important human rights document to which the EU institutions have committed themselves.

JUSTICE would like to thank the European Commission for the funding provided which allowed this site to be created.