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Drawn up by a convention bringing together the European institutions, representatives of the national parliaments, lawyers, academics and representatives of civil society, the European Charter was adopted as a recommendation and reference text by the European Council in Nice in December 2000. It is a complementary text to the European Convention on Human Rights, which was an initiative of the Council of Europe.
It is not included in the Treaty of Lisbon but simply annexed to it in the form of a declaration.
It seeks solely to protect the fundamental rights of individuals with regard to acts undertaken by the institutions of the European Union and by the Member States in application of the Treaties of the Union.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union sets out in a single document, for the first time in the history of the European Union, all the civil, political, economic and social rights of EU citizens and of all individuals living on EU territory.
The preamble to the Charter states that 'the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.
The rights are divided into six main chapters (Dignity, Freedoms, Equality, Solidarity, Citizens' Rights and Justice) and a seventh chapter sets out general provisions.
In compliance with the principle of universality, the rights laid down in the Charter are for the most part granted to any individual irrespective of his nationality or place of residence. The Charter seeks solely to protect the fundamental rights of individuals with regard to acts undertaken by the EU institutions and by the Member States in application of the EU Treaties.
When the Member States came up with the idea of drafting a Charter of Fundamental Rights they did not decide what its legal status should be. This was left to be determined subsequently once the text had been finally adopted; the issue at stake was whether it should be incorporated into the Treaties, which would confer on it a binding legal value for the Member States and the European Union institutions.
With the Treaty of Lisbon, the Charter of Fundamental Rights acquires a binding legal force for 25 Member States, the United Kingdom and Poland having been granted a derogation.
The Treaty of Lisbon provides for the EU to accede, as a Union, to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It forms the legal basis for this accession, which is simplified by the new, single legal personality of the European Union. This accession will enable the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to verify the compliance of EU acts with the ECHR, which will also serve to enhance the protection of fundamental rights within the European Union.