The Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in short "the Charter of Fundamental Rights", was proclaimed on December 7, 2000, at the summit of heads of state and government leaders in Nice. It consists of 7 chapters.

Chapter 1, entitled "Dignity ", contains in Article 1 exactly the same regulation as the German constitution: "Human dignity is inviolable". This is the fundamental norm from which all basic and human rights derive.

Chapter 2 is entitled "Freedoms".

Chapter 3 is entitled "Equality".

Article 22 in this chapter states that "The Union shall respect cultural, religious and linguistic diversity."

Chapter 4 is entitled "Solidarity" and follows the "3-pillar-model" suggested by Juergen Meyer. This chapter was especially controversial and has been criticised in the evaluation of the Charter by "leftists" and "conservatives" under very different aspects.

Chapter 5 is entitled "Citizens Rights ". It contains mainly rights of the citizens of the Union, but also human rights.

Chapter 6, entitled "Justice" , covers "jurisdictional" rights, and as such not rights of citizens, but human rights.

Chapter 7, entitled "General Provisions ", is the final chapter of the Charter and contains the so-called "horizontal" regulations, which provide guidance in the overall interpretation of the Charter.   [UP]