Values Of The European Union

There are several values in which European Union is based, such as democracy, equality, human dignity and respect for human rights.

Fundamental freedoms are embedded in the European Economic Community (EEC) since 1957 and describe the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, the driving forces for the internal market.

After World War 2, the Europe continent was totally ruined. Fundamental rights have been ignored by the Nazis and according the statistics over 50 million people have been killed in this war.

The legal system did not ensure the protection of the minimum rights of the people and the authorities did not pay deference to the citizens. Fundamental rights have also been ignored in the Eastern Bloc during the cold war

Firstly, the CJEU has developed respect for human rights as a condition of legality of EU Law, ensuring that where the EU takes measures it may not infringe upon the body of human rights recognised as part of the ‘general principles’ of EU Law. The content of the ‘general principles’ is developed by drawing on treaties to which the Member States are party, in particular the European Convention, the constitutional traditions of the Member States and, to a more limited extent, the UN human rights treaties. Secondly, the Lisbon Treaty has conferred legally binding status on the CFR, obliging the institutions of the EU (and the Member States when implementing and interpreting EU Law) to respect the rights that it enumerates.30 According to Article 51(1) of the CFR: The provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law. They shall therefore respect the rights, observe the principles and promote the application thereof in accordance with their respective powers and respecting the limits of the powers of the Union as conferred on it in the Treaties. Thus, to the extent that national law cannot be considered to be giving effect to EU Law (i.e. certain areas where Member

As a result both of the narrower scope of rights protected under EU Law via the ‘general principles’ and the CFR, and the absence of any duty to ‘protect’ or ‘promote’ human rights, the populations of the Member States risk being subject to a lower level of protection where the context in which the rights are to be exercised falls under EU competence. In this sense, there is a worrying discrepancy between the level of protection that Member States have committed themselves to accord to all those within their jurisdiction via the UN human rights treaties and the level of protection that the EU itself recognises, resulting in a two-tier system that is incompatible with the universality of human rights. To the extent that EU Law fails to recognise and reflect the greater scope and depth of Member States’ obligations as they exist in the UN human rights treaties, individuals within EU territory face a denial of their basic rights. There are numerous areas of EU Law where potential for conflict arises between the obligations incurred under UN human rights treaties and obligations deriving from EU Law. Member States may elect to give priority to their obligations under EU Law, which the EU doctrine of supremacy obliges them to do. Should the Member States attempt to give priority to their obligations under the UN treaties, EU Law obliges them to renegotiate or withdraw. More worryingly,