Brussels, 19/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has described the way in which it guaranteed respect for the European Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2015. It provided this description in an annual report published on Thursday 19 May.
In a society where intolerance, xenophobia and the appearance of hate speech are all part of daily life, the First Vice President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, stated "Fundamental rights are the foundation of our European Union and our communities" but are in danger. In light of the many challenges facing our society, Mr Timmermans said, "it is vital that we uphold democracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law".
The Commission report provides an insight into the way fundamental rights were applied in the context of a series of EU policies in member states. It explains that in 2015, several legislative projects including provisions to ensure respect for fundamental rights were proposed, such as the legislative package on data protection and the directive on victims' rights.
The Commission also describes how it took the Charter of Fundamental Rights into account in its legislative work in 2015. Many paragraphs of its work analyse the way in which the initiatives were taken to respond to the migration crisis and the terrorist attacks perpetrated in Europe, whilst guaranteeing respect for the principles mentioned above. In 2015, several member states found themselves subject to infringement procedures for failure to respect fundamental rights, such as Hungary, over its legislation on asylum law.
Finally, the document illustrates a number of examples on the way in which the Charter was applied by the European Court of Justice and highlights the main developments in European case law.
The different action taken was welcomed by Vera Jourova, the European Commissioner for Justice. She emphasised that "fundamental rights do not just exist on paper but must also be respected in practice”. (Original version in French by Maëlle Didion)