§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)At the European Council in Brussels on 17–18 June 2004, EU Heads of Government agreed to include the Charter of Fundamental Rights as Part II of the Constitutional Treaty. This Statement sets out the Government's views on the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Changes to the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights, which make it suitable for incorporation into the treaties.
The EU Charter was agreed at Nice in 2000 as a political declaration, not as treaty law. At the same time, the European Council agreed that, "in accordance with the Cologne conclusions, the question of the Charter's force would be considered later" (Conclusions of the Nice European Council reference 00/1843, deposited in the Library of the House on 11 December 2000). Her Majesty's Government made it clear that we could not agree to incorporation of the charter into the treaties without further legal clarification of its meaning and application. In the White Paper A Constitutional Treaty for the EU (Cm 5934) of September 2003, Her Majesty's Government said we would make a final decision on incorporation of the charter into the Constitutional Treaty only in the light of the overall picture at the IGC.
The Charter, including its original preamble, and its own special rules of application and interpretation, is now Part II of the Constitutional treaty, and is introduced by Article I-7(1) of the Treaty. Article I-7 deals with fundamental rights generally. Besides introducing the Charter, Article I-7(1) acknowledges the distinction made in the Charter between rights and principles. Human rights and other fundamental 92WS rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and in the constitutional traditions common to all the member states remain general principles of EU law (see Article I-7(3)) and insofar as the Charter affirms such rights, they will be interpreted in accordance with the ECHR. Article I-7(2) enables the Union to accede to the ECHR in its own right.
Significant amendments have been made to Articles II-51 and II-52 in Title VII of the Charter (now entitled "General Provisions Governing the Interpretation and Application of the Charter"). The Charter applies to the Union—its institutions, agencies and bodies—and, though only when they are implementing Union law, to the member states. Paragraph (1) of Article II-51 has been further clarified to show that the Charter does not entail any extension of the Union's competences or any extension of the scope of its application for member states. Paragraph (2) of Article II-51 also confirms that the Charter does not have the effect of extending the scope of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union as established in the other parts of the Constitutional Treaty.
Article II-52 deals with interpretation, and significantly improves the original Charter provisions. It indicates that there are four sources for the content of the Charter's rights, freedoms and principles: provisions of EU law, the ECHR, the constitutional traditions common to the member states and national law. Under Article II-52(2), Charter articles based on existing EU law are to be read subject to the conditions and limits set out in the Constitutional Treaty; that is, they are effectively subordinated to their legal base in other parts of the constitution. Under Article II-52(3), rights in the Charter that correspond to rights in the ECHR have the same meaning and scope as given by the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court. Article I-7(2) on EU accession to the ECHR will help ensure consistency of jurisprudence as between the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice.
Under Article II-52(4), those Charter provisions which draw upon the common constitutional traditions of the member states must be interpreted "in harmony" with such traditions.
Article II-52(6) emphasises the respect to be given to "national laws and practices", as referred to in the Charter provisions.
Article II-52(5) is aimed at clarifying the distinction the Charter makes between legally enforceable rights on the one hand, and the principles, of an aspirational nature, on the other hand, which are to be found mainly in the Solidarity Title of the Charter. Principles are designed to guide the actions of the Union institutions, and of the member states when implementing Union law. The Union must observe principles by virtue of Article II-51 (1) when deciding whether to exercise its competences; but there is no obligation to legislate, and the Charter itself generates no additional powers to do so. Principles apply within the limitations set out in Article II-51(2).
93WSFinally, a further new horizontal article, Article II-52(7), has been added to the Constitutional Treaty. Article II-52(7) requires the Charter to be interpreted with due regard to the official Explanations, which address the legal bases for each of the Charter's provisions. The Explanations have been updated and strengthened and are the subject of a special declaration by the member states which ensures that they are published with the new treaty. The official Explanations constitute an authoritative guide to the legal meaning of the Charter's provisions and will help ensure that the Charter is not misinterpreted.
Whether incorporation of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights into the treaties will increase the powers of the European Union.
Incorporation of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights into the treaties will not increase the powers of the European Union. The Charter of Fundamental Rights must be read as a whole, including the General Provisions Governing the Interpretation and Application of the Charter, as set out in Articles II-51 to 53 of the Charter. Article II-51(2) provides that the Charter does not extend the scope of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union or establish any new power or task for the Union, or modify powers and tasks defined by the other parts of the Constitutional Treaty.
The benefits to the United Kingdom of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Although fundamental rights, freedoms and principles are guaranteed by the governments of the member states in accordance with national law, there was no statement of rights, etc binding the European Union. The Charter sets out such a statement for the Union. Following incorporation of the Charter, the institutions, bodies and agencies of the Union will be bound to recognise those rights, etc in exercising any of their powers. The Charter should help to ensure that citizens' basic rights and liberties are protected at EU level, as they are in their own countries.
The effect of Article II-28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights upon the laws governing industrial relations in the United Kingdom.
In practice, Article II-28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights will have no effect upon the laws governing industrial relations in the United Kingdom. Article II-28 states that workers and employers enjoy rights of collective bargaining and action "in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices". There is no Union law in this area, nor could there be in future. EU action on pay, the right of association, the right to strike and the right to impose lock-outs is specifically excluded (see Article III-104(6) of the Constitutional Treaty). Charter Article II-52(6) provides that full account should be taken of national laws and practices as specified in the Charter. As with all the Charter provisions, and by virtue of Article: II-52(7), it is important to read Article II-28 alongside the official Explanation, which in this instance points out that, "The modalities and limits for the exercise of collective action, including strike action, come under national laws and practices". The United Kingdom's 94WS laws governing industrial relations maintain a balance between workers' rights to pursue legitimate trade disputes and employers' rights to conduct their businesses without undue disruption from illegitimate strike action. Article II-28 will not alter that balance.