PART II
THE
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE UNION
PREAMBLE
The peoples of Europe, in creating
an ever closer union among them, are resolved
to share a peaceful future based
on common values.
Conscious of its spiritual and
moral heritage, 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 Union contributes to the
preservation and to the development of these common values while respecting the
diversity of the cultures and traditions of the peoples of Europe as well as the
national identities of the Member States and the organisation of their public
authorities at national, regional and local levels; it seeks to promote balanced
and sustainable development and ensures free movement of persons, services,
goods and capital, and the freedom of establishment.
To this end, it is necessary to
strengthen the protection of fundamental rights in the light of changes in
society, social progress and scientific and technological developments by making
those rights more visible in a Charter.
This Charter reaffirms, with due
regard for the powers and tasks of the Union and the principle of subsidiarity,
the rights as they result, in particular, from the constitutional traditions and
international obligations common to the Member States, the European Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Social Charters
adopted by the Union and by the Council of Europe and the case law of the Court
of Justice of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights. In
this context the Charter will be interpreted by the courts of the Union and the
Member States with due regard to the explanations prepared under the authority
of the Praesidium of the Convention which drafted the Charter and updated under
the responsibility of the Praesidium of the European
Convention.
Enjoyment of these rights entails responsibilities
and duties with regard to other persons,
to the human community and to future generations.
The Union therefore recognises the
rights, freedoms and principles set out hereafter.
Human dignity is inviolable. It
must be respected and protected.
1. Everyone has the right to
life.
2. No one shall be condemned to the
death penalty, or executed.
Article II-3: Right to the
integrity of the person
1. Everyone has the right to
respect for his or her physical and mental
integrity.
2. In the fields of medicine and
biology, the following must be respected
in particular:
(a) the free and informed consent
of the person concerned, according to the
procedures laid down by
law,
(b) the prohibition of eugenic practices,
in particular those aiming at the selection
of persons,
(c) the prohibition on making the
human body and its parts as such a source
of financial
gain,
(d) the prohibition of the reproductive cloning
of human beings.
Article II-4: Prohibition of
torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment
No one shall be subjected to
torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
Article II-5: Prohibition of
slavery and forced labour
1. No one shall be held in slavery
or servitude.
2. No one shall be required to
perform forced or compulsory labour.
3. Trafficking in human beings is
prohibited.
Article
II-6: Right to liberty and security
Everyone has the right to liberty and security
of person.
Article
II-7: Respect for private and family life
Everyone has the right to respect for his
or her private and family life, home and
communications.
Article
II-8: Protection of personal data
1. Everyone has the right to the
protection of personal data concerning him
or her.
2. Such data must be processed
fairly for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person
concerned or some other legitimate basis laid down by law. Everyone has the
right of access to data which has been collected concerning him or her, and the
right to have it rectified.
3. Compliance with these rules
shall be subject to control by an independent
authority.
Article
II-9: Right to marry and right to found a family
The right to marry and the right to
found a family shall be guaranteed in accordance
with the national laws
governing the exercise of these rights.
Article II-10: Freedom of thought,
conscience and religion
1. Everyone has the right to
freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
This right includes freedom to
change religion or belief and freedom, either
alone or in community with others
and in public or in private, to manifest
religion or belief, in worship,
teaching, practice and observance.
2. The right to conscientious
objection is recognised, in accordance with
the national laws governing the
exercise of this right.
Article II-11: Freedom of
expression and information
1. Everyone has the right to
freedom of expression. This right shall include
freedom to hold opinions and to
receive and impart information and ideas
without interference by public
authority and regardless of frontiers.
2. The freedom and pluralism of the
media shall be respected.
Article II-12: Freedom of assembly
and of association
1. Everyone has the right to
freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels, in
particular in political, trade union and civic matters, which implies the right
of everyone to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his or her
interests.
2. Political parties at Union level
contribute to expressing the political will of the citizens of the
Union.
Article II-13: Freedom of the arts
and sciences
The arts and scientific research
shall be free of constraint. Academic freedom
shall be
respected.
Article II-14: Right to
education
1. Everyone has the right to
education and to have access to vocational
and continuing
training.
2. This right includes the
possibility to receive free compulsory education.
3. The freedom to found educational
establishments with due respect for democratic
principles and the right of
parents to ensure the education and teaching
of their children in conformity
with their religious, philosophical and pedagogical
convictions shall be
respected, in accordance with the national
laws governing the exercise of such
freedom and right.
Article II-15: Freedom to choose an
occupation and right to engage in work
1. Everyone has the right to engage
in work and to pursue a freely chosen or
accepted
occupation.
2. Every citizen of the Union has
the freedom to seek employment, to work,
to exercise the right of establishment
and to provide services in any Member State.
3. Nationals of third countries who
are authorised to work in the territories
of the Member States are entitled to
working conditions equivalent to those of
citizens of the
Union.
Article II-16: Freedom to conduct a
business
The freedom to conduct a business
in accordance with Union law and national
laws and practices is
recognised.
Article II-17: Right to
property
1. Everyone has the right to own,
use, dispose of and bequeath his or her lawfully
acquired possessions. No one
may be deprived of his or her possessions,
except in the public interest and in
the cases and under the conditions provided
for by law, subject to fair
compensation being paid in good time for
their loss. The use of property may be
regulated by law insofar as is necessary
for the general
interest.
2. Intellectual property shall be
protected.
Article II-18: Right to
asylum
The right to asylum shall be
guaranteed with due respect for the rules
of the Geneva Convention of 28 July
1951 and the Protocol of 31 January 1967
relating to the status of refugees and
in accordance with the Constitution.
Article II-19: Protection in the
event of removal, expulsion or extradition
1. Collective expulsions are
prohibited.
2. No one may be removed, expelled
or extradited to a State where there is a
serious risk that he or she would be
subjected to the death penalty, torture or
other inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment.
Article II-20: Equality before the
law
Everyone is equal before the
law.
Article
II-21: Non-discrimination
1. Any discrimination based on any
ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic
or social origin, genetic features,
language, religion or belief, political or
any other opinion, membership of a
national minority, property, birth, disability,
age or sexual orientation shall
be prohibited.
2. Within the scope of application
of the Constitution and without prejudice
to any of its specific provisions, any
discrimination on grounds of nationality
shall be
prohibited.
Article II-22: Cultural, religious
and linguistic diversity
The Union shall respect cultural,
religious and linguistic diversity.
Article II-23: Equality between men
and women
Equality between men and women must
be ensured in all areas, including employment,
work and
pay.
The principle of equality shall not
prevent the maintenance or adoption of measures
providing for specific
advantages in favour of the under-represented
sex.
Article II-24: The rights of the
child
1. Children shall have the right to
such protection and care as is necessary
for their
well-being.They may express their views
freely. Such views shall be taken into consideration
on matters which concern
them in accordance with their age and maturity.
2. In all actions relating to children, whether
taken by public authorities or private institutions,
the child's best interests must be a primary
consideration.
3. Every child shall have the right
to maintain on a regular basis a personal
relationship and direct contact with
both his or her parents, unless that is contrary
to his or her
interests.
Article II-25: The rights of the
elderly
The Union recognises and respects
the rights of the elderly to lead a life
of dignity and independence and to
participate in social and cultural life.
Article II-26: Integration of
persons with disabilities
The Union recognises and respects
the right of persons with disabilities to
benefit from measures designed to
ensure their independence, social and occupational
integration and participation
in the life of the community.
Article II-27: Workers' right to
information and consultation within the undertaking
Workers or their representatives
must, at the appropriate levels, be guaranteed
information and consultation in
good time in the cases and under the conditions
provided for by Union law and
national laws and practices.
Article II-28: Right of collective
bargaining and action
Workers and employers, or their
respective organisations, have, in accordance
with Union law and national laws
and practices, the right to negotiate and
conclude collective agreements at the
appropriate levels and, in cases of conflicts
of interest, to take collective
action to defend their interests, including
strike action.
Article II-29: Right of access to
placement services
Everyone has the right of access to
a free placement service.
Article II-30: Protection in the
event of unjustified dismissal
Every worker has the right to
protection against unjustified dismissal, in accordance with Union law and
national laws and practices.
Article II-31: Fair and just
working conditions
1. Every worker has the right to
working conditions which respect his or her
health, safety and
dignity.
2. Every worker has the right to
limitation of maximum working hours, to daily
and weekly rest periods and to an
annual period of paid leave.
Article II-32: Prohibition of child
labour and protection of young people at
work
The employment of children is
prohibited. The minimum age of admission
to employment may not be lower than the
minimum school-leaving age, without prejudice
to such rules as may be more
favourable to young people and except for
limited
derogations.
Young people admitted to work must have working
conditions appropriate to their age and be
protected against economic exploitation and
any work likely to harm their safety, health
or physical, mental, moral or social development
or to interfere with their education.
Article II-33: Family and
professional life
1. The family shall enjoy legal,
economic and social protection.
2. To reconcile family and
professional life, everyone shall have the
right to protection from dismissal
for a reason connected with maternity and
the right to paid maternity leave and
to parental leave following the birth or
adoption of a
child.
Article II-34: Social security and
social assistance
1. The Union recognises and
respects the entitlement to social security
benefits and social services
providing protection in cases such as maternity,
illness, industrial accidents,
dependency or old age, and in the case of
loss of employment, in accordance with
the rules laid down by Union law and national
laws and
practices.
2. Everyone residing and moving
legally within the European Union is entitled
to social security benefits and
social advantages in accordance with Union
law and national laws and
practices.
3. In order to combat social exclusion and
poverty, the Union recognises and respects
the right to social and housing assistance
so as to ensure a decent existence for all
those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance
with the rules laid down by Union law and
national laws and practices.
Everyone has the right of access to
preventive health care and the right to benefit
from medical treatment under the
conditions established by national laws and
practices. A high level of human
health protection shall be ensured in the
definition and implementation of all
Union policies and activities.
Article II-36: Access to services
of general economic interest
The Union recognises and respects
access to services of general economic interest
as provided for in national laws
and practices, in accordance with the Constitution,
in order to promote the
social and territorial cohesion of the Union.
Article
II-37: Environmental protection
A high level of environmental
protection and the improvement of the quality
of the environment must be
integrated into the policies of the Union
and ensured in accordance with the
principle of sustainable development.
Article
II-38: Consumer protection
Union policies shall ensure a high
level of consumer protection.
Article II-39: Right to vote and to
stand as a candidate at elections to the European Parliament
1. Every citizen of the Union has
the right to vote and to stand as a candidate
at elections to the European
Parliament in the Member State in which he
or she resides, under the same
conditions as nationals of that State.
2. Members of the European
Parliament shall be elected by direct universal
suffrage in a free and secret
ballot.
Article II-40: Right to vote and to
stand as a candidate at municipal elections
Every citizen of the Union has the
right to vote and to stand as a candidate
at municipal elections in the Member
State in which he or she resides under the
same conditions as nationals of that
State.
Article II-41: Right to good
administration
1. Every person has the right to
have his or her affairs handled impartially,
fairly and within a reasonable time
by the Institutions, bodies, offices and
agencies of the
Union.
2. This right
includes:
(a) the right of every person to be
heard, before any individual measure which
would affect him or her adversely is
taken;
(b) the right of every person to
have access to his or her file, while respecting
the legitimate interests of
confidentiality and of professional and business
secrecy;
(c) the obligation of the
administration to give reasons for its decisions.
3. Every person has the right to
have the Union make good any damage caused
by its Institutions or by its
servants in the performance of their duties,
in accordance with the general
principles common to the laws of the Member
States.
4. Every citizen may write to the
Institutions of the Union in one of the languages
of the Constitution and must
have an answer in the same language.
Article II-42: Right of access to
documents
Any citizen of the Union, and any
natural or legal person residing or having
its registered office in a Member
State, has a right of access to documents
of the Institutions, bodies, offices
and agencies of the Union, whatever their
medium.
Article II-43: European
Ombudsman
Any citizen of the Union and any
natural or legal person residing or having
its registered office in a Member
State has the right to refer to the European
Ombudsman cases of
maladministration in the activities of the
Institutions, bodies, offices or
agencies of the Union, with the exception
of the Court of Justice of the
European Union acting in its judicial role.
Article II-44: Right to
petition
Any citizen of the Union and any
natural or legal person residing or having
its registered office in a Member
State has the right to petition the European
Parliament.
Article II-45: Freedom of movement
and of residence
1. Every citizen of the Union has
the right to move and reside freely within
the territory of the Member
States.
2. Freedom of movement and
residence may be granted, in accordance with
the Constitution, to nationals of
third countries legally resident in the territory
of a Member
State.
Article II-46: Diplomatic and
consular protection
Every citizen of the Union shall,
in the territory of a third country in which
the Member State of which he or she
is a national is not represented, be entitled
to protection by the diplomatic or
consular authorities of any Member State,
on the same conditions as the
nationals of that Member State.
Article II-47: Right to an
effective remedy and to a fair trial
Everyone whose rights and freedoms
guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated
has the right to an effective
remedy before a tribunal in compliance with
the conditions laid down in this
Article.
Everyone is entitled to a fair and public
hearing within a reasonable time by an independent
and impartial tribunal previously established
by law. Everyone shall have the possibility
of being advised, defended and represented.
Legal aid shall be made available
to those who lack sufficient resources insofar
as such aid is necessary to
ensure effective access to justice.
Article II-48: Presumption of
innocence and right of defence
1. Everyone who has been charged
shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty
according to
law.
2. Respect for the rights of the
defence of anyone who has been charged shall
be
guaranteed.
Article II-49: Principles of
legality and proportionality of criminal offences and
penalties
1. No one shall be held guilty of
any criminal offence on account of any act
or omission which did not constitute
a criminal offence under national law or
international law at the time when it
was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty
be imposed than that which was
applicable at the time the criminal offence
was committed. If, subsequent to the
commission of a criminal offence, the law
provides for a lighter penalty, that
penalty shall be applicable.
2. This Article shall not prejudice
the trial and punishment of any person for
any act or omission which, at the
time when it was committed, was criminal
according to the general principles
recognised by the community of nations.
3. The severity of penalties must
not be disproportionate to the criminal offence.
Article II-50: Right not to be
tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same criminal
offence
No one shall be liable to be tried
or punished again in criminal proceedings
for an offence for which he or she has
already been finally acquitted or convicted
within the Union in accordance with
the law.
TITLE VII
GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE INTERPRETATION
AND APPLICATION OF THE CHARTER
Article II-51: Field of
application
1. The provisions of this Charter
are addressed to the Institutions, bodies,
offices and agencies of the Union
with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity
and to the Member States only
when they are implementing Union law. They
shall therefore respect the rights,
observe the principles and promote the application
thereof in accordance with
their respective powers and respecting the
limits of the powers of the Union as
conferred on it in the other Parts of the
Constitution.
2. This Charter does not extend the
field of application of Union law beyond
the powers of the Union or establish
any new power or task for the Union, or modify
powers and tasks defined in the
other Parts of the Constitution.
Article II-52: Scope and
interpretation of rights and principles
1. Any limitation on the exercise
of the rights and freedoms recognised by
this Charter must be provided for by
law and respect the essence of those rights
and freedoms. Subject to the
principle of proportionality, limitations
may be made only if they are necessary
and genuinely meet objectives of general
interest recognised by the Union or the
need to protect the rights and freedoms of
others.
2. Rights recognised by this
Charter for which provision is made in other
Parts of the Constitution shall be
exercised under the conditions and within
the limits defined by these relevant
Parts
3. Insofar as this Charter contains
rights which correspond to rights guaranteed
by the Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms, the meaning and scope of
those rights shall be the same as those laid
down by the said Convention. This
provision shall not prevent Union law providing
more extensive
protection.
4. Insofar as this Charter
recognises fundamental rights as they result
from the constitutional traditions
common to the Member States, those rights
shall be interpreted in harmony with
those traditions.
5. The provisions of this Charter
which contain principles may be implemented
by legislative and executive acts
taken by Institutions, bodies, offices and
agencies of the Union, and by acts of
Member States when they are implementing
Union law, in the exercise of their
respective powers.
They shall be judicially cognisable
only in the interpretation of such acts and in the ruling on their
legality.
6. Full account shall be taken of
national laws and practices as specified
in this Charter.
7. The explanations drawn up as a
way of providing guidance in the interpretation
of the Charter of Fundamental
Rights shall be given due regard by the courts
of the Union and of the Member
States.
Article II-53: Level of
protection
Nothing in this Charter shall be
interpreted as restricting or adversely affecting
human rights and fundamental
freedoms as recognised, in their respective
fields of application, by Union law
and international law and by international
agreements to which the Union or all
the Member States are party, including the
European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms, and by the Member States'
constitutions.
Article II-54: Prohibition of abuse
of rights
Nothing in this Charter shall be
interpreted as implying any right to engage
in any activity or to perform any
act aimed at the destruction of any of the
rights and freedoms recognised in
this Charter or at their limitation to a
greater extent than is provided for
herein.