The charter of fundamental rights in the work of the European Convention on the future of the Union

Abstract

This article refers in particular, to the possibility of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights being inserted into the same Union's Constitutional Treaty project, as well as the need, discussed in Laeken, of the Union acceding to the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights, and how these topics will affect the European Court of Justice and access to it. It is argued that fundamental human rights often necessitate a form of constitutionalisation and there is a discussion of the findings of particular working groups referring to "technical" questions such as "the role of the Explanations of the Charter reworked in the framework of the Convention" (on the Future of the Union). This is followed by an examination of the working group's discussion relating to the procedures and consequences of accession to the ECHR and, subsequently, there is concrete reference to article 6 of the TEU and how the right contained therein would be affected by the Charter's inclusion in the new Constitution. The final chapter wraps up the article and draws the reader's attention towards the fact that these Constitutional discussions are in reality discussing "the very nature of European integration".