Charter of Fundamental Rights of The European Union

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaimed on 7 December 2000 by the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission. However its then legal status was uncertain and it did not have full legal effect until the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009.

Under the Charter, the European Union (EU) must act and legislate consistently with the Charter and the EU's courts will strike down EU legislation which contravenes it. The Charter only applies to EU member states when they are implementing EU law and EU's institutions and does not extend the competences of the EU beyond the competences given to it in the treaties.

Read more about Charter Of Fundamental Rights Of The European Union:  Background, Legal Status, The Text

Famous quotes containing the words charter of, charter, fundamental, rights, european and/or union:

    The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.
    Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

    When Britain first, at Heaven’s command,
    Arose from out the azure main,
    This was the charter of her land,
    And guardian angels sung the strain:
    Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules the waves!
    Britons never shall be slaves.
    James Thomson (1700–1748)

    The political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free Government, and as they become incorporated with national sentiment, counteract the impulses of interest and passion.
    James Madison (1751–1836)

    ...I know nothing of man’s rights, or woman’s rights; human rights are all that I recognise.
    Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)

    To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.
    —For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    The methods by which a trade union can alone act, are necessarily destructive; its organization is necessarily tyrannical.
    Henry George (1839–1897)