The EU from a common market to the charter on human rights - the evolution of fundamental rights

Abstract

70 years ago after the tragedies of the Second World War, humanity came up with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [UDHR]. This is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 [General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. A few years later, the six founding fathers of the European Union established the European Economic Community with the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The EEC Treaty was originally intended as an economic treaty. Hence it focused on achieving peace and prosperity among the founding fathers who had just fought each other through economics rather than through a political roadmap involving human rights. The founding fathers were all party to the European Convention of Human Rights under the auspices of the Council of Europe itself established only a few months after the UDHR.