The implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU institutional framework

This study on the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the EU institutional framework was requested to support the work of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) of the European Parliament. It assesses to which extent the EU institutions take into account the Charter in the design and implementation of legislation or of policies, both within law- and policymaking internal to the Union and in the external relations of the EU. It identifies means through which the effectiveness of the Charter in ensuring the protection and promotion of rights, freedoms and principles that it brings together, could be further improved. Since it was initially proclaimed at the Nice Summit in December 2000, and especially since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009 that endowed it with a constitutional status, the Charter of Fundamental Rights has been influencing the legislative process, as the institutions of the EU have gradually designed procedures and methodologies to ensure that fundamental rights would be taken into account at the different stages of law-making. In contrast, progress has been much slower, and often unsatisfactory, in other contexts.