Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs
Strategy for the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union
Opinion factsheet
Témata na této stránce
- Justice and Home Affairs
- Fundamental rights
Opinion number:
CDR-0406-2010
Status:
Přijatá
Objective
Contribute to the debate on the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union and propose what the CoR's role and that of local and regional authorities could be in this context.
Impact
The involvement of the CoR in the inter-institutional dialogue concerning the Charter is essential and suggests to set up contact points to facilitate the flow of information on the Charter between the different levels of government. These contact points could also provide guidance for LRAs on how to shape their policies in full compliance with the Charter with concrete examples.
Another proposal is that since the local authorities are the closest level of governance to citizens and they are well place to raise people’s awareness on their rights and where to turn to if their rights are breached, CoR members could take the opportunity of Europe Day on 9 May and of the Conference on the Future of Europe to promote local activities, explaining and stressing the paramount importance of the Fundamental Rights and the European Charter in our democracies.
Another proposal is that since the local authorities are the closest level of governance to citizens and they are well place to raise people’s awareness on their rights and where to turn to if their rights are breached, CoR members could take the opportunity of Europe Day on 9 May and of the Conference on the Future of Europe to promote local activities, explaining and stressing the paramount importance of the Fundamental Rights and the European Charter in our democracies.
Essential points
THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- commends the strengthening of fundamental rights in the EU. Although Europe has a solid legal framework as regards human rights, there are deficiencies in the way rights are guaranteed in practice;
- supports the three main strands of the Commission's strategy, but also notes that the strategy mainly addresses the institutions and more specifically what the Commission should and must do. The Committee advocates taking a more strategic approach to implementing the Charter, which will require the involvement of all authorities, including at local and regional level;
- is keen to help create "a culture of multilevel promotion and protection of rights", which also means raising public awareness of fundamental rights and drawing the attention of officials of the European Union, the Member States and the regional and local authorities to the force of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as directly applicable law;
- thinks that the proposed strategy should be made clearer with respect to the processes for preparatory consultations on proposed legislation. These processes must be clarified so that impact assessments are accurate and useful. It is important in terms of strengthening democracy in the EU that different stakeholders, including local and regional authorities, be given the possibility to express their views.