Fundamental Rights In The European Union

Why is the protection of fundamental rights needed in the EU and how has the initial lack of fundamental rights protection been resolved (until now)?

Fundamental rights of individuals in the European Union were established under different circumstances, at different times, some rights existed for a long time (freedoms, fair trial, etc), some are very recent and are a response to modern challenges of today’s world (such a data protection right or prohibition to cloning). Such a variety resulted in the need for some structuring as European citizens did not always excercise their rights simply because they were not always aware of the existence of these rights.

Historically, all the rights in the EU were guaranteed by the European Convention

The Member States themselves, through their national courts ensure the protection of fundamental rights, the European Court of Justice has developped a big number of case-laws assuring the fundamental rights. It is the Court together with the European Convention on Human Rights that filled the intial lack of fundamental rights’ protection in the EU which is now enshrined into the Treaty with several articles stipulating fundamental rights. Article 2 of the TEU reads that ‘the Union is based on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities’. The protection of these fundamental rights is, thus, at the very heart of the Union itself, without the fundamental rights and their protection the EU would have been thrown back into the dark ages and would have nothing to do with the modern society it represents today. For many centuries people defended with their lives the fundamental rights, be it “Liberte, egality, fraternite” of the French revolution, or the freedom of expression in “Charlie” of 21st century. It is our task to promote the protection of fundamental rights, to be fully aware of those rights, their exercise and cases of violation. The Charter of fundamental rights brings all those rights together to make them more visible and understandable to the citizens. It also makes sure that the EU citizen have exactly the same rights no matter what EU country they live in. The Charter addresses individuals directly and eventhough the Treaty of Lisbon is not a constitution, it merges the national societies and turns them