Strasbourg, 12/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - The presidents of the three Community institutions, José Manuel Socrates for the Council, José Manuel Barroso for the Commission and Hans-Gert Pöttering for the European Parliament for the second time made a solemn proclamation and signed the Charter of Fundamental Rights on Wednesday 12 December at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The charter will be binding from the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, probably on 1 January 2009. This incorporates into a single text, European citizens' civic, political, economic and social rights. These rights will have to be respected by EU institutions and member states when they implement Community law. The Lisbon Treaty, which will be signed on Thursday 13 December, contains only one reference to the text of the charter. The whole text, however, will be published in the Official Journal. During the inter-governmental conference, the United Kingdom and Poland obtained an important derogation: Protocol 7 annexed to the treaty, limits the remit of the Court of Justice, and the British and Polish courts from assessing that the laws and practices in the United Kingdom and Poland are incompatible with the charter. The protocol also stipulates that the provisions in the charter do not apply to British and Polish citizens unless they are already recognised in the law and practices of the two countries.
The signing and proclamation session at the EP was subject to a high level of heckling and whistles from around 15 Eurosceptic MEPs, obliging President Pöttering to call them (in vain) to order. The acting president of the European Council, José Socrates, then spoke about a “fundamental date in the history of the EU”, adding, “this proclamation of the charter is the most important ceremony of my whole political career”. Thanks to the binding nature of the charter, fundamental rights will “irreversibly” form part of the EU's heritage - “this is the very best of European civilisation”. The Portuguese prime minister stressed that defence of fundamental rights does not stop with the proclamation of the charter. He affirmed that it was a “daily task” for all actors in society, as well as for the Community institutions and member states. José Manuel Barroso pointed out that the charter now had the same legal value as the Treaty of the EU itself. He said that in this way, “it anchors the European Union into a culture of fundamental rights”. Barroso also said that the charter would have an impact on the international scene because it would guide EU foreign and security policy. The president of the Commission concluded: “Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU has always been in the front line of this struggle throughout the whole world. With the charter it will be better equipped”. Hans-Gert Pöttering, the president of the Parliament, stated that the charter would help to explain to citizens “the real essence of European unification, it does not only exist in the economic calculations for costs and benefits. We are, above all, a community of values and we live in daily solidarity, freedom and equal rights”.
The rights included in the charter are grouped under six main chapters: Dignity: human dignity, the right to an individual person's dignity, a ban on torture and inhumane punishment or degrading treatment, a ban on slavery and forced labour; Freedom: right to freedom and security, respect for private and family life, the protection of personal character details, the right to marry and found a family, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the freedom of expression and information, the freedom to meet and of association, freedom of the arts and science, right to an education, professional freedom and the right to work, freedom of enterprise, property rights, right to asylum, protection in the event of being removed, expelled or deported; Equality: equality before the law, non-discrimination, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity, equality between men and women, children's rights, rights of senior citizens, integration of people with disabilities; Solidarity: rights to information and consultation of workers in their companies, the right of negotiation and collective action, access rights to employment agencies, protection in the event of unjustified sackings, fair and equitable working conditions, ban on child labour, protection of young people at work and family and professional life, social security and assistance, health care, access to services of general economic interest, protection of the environment, consumer protection; Citizenship: the right to vote and eligibility to stand in European Parliament elections, right to vote and eligibility to stand in local elections, right to good administration, right to access documents, European Ombudsman, pension rights, freedom of movement and residency, diplomatic and consular protection; Justice: right of appeal and access to an impartial court, presumption of innocence and defence rights, principle of legality and proportionality of crime and punishment, right not to be judged or punished twice for the same offence. (H.B.)