EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines into primary EU law a wide array of fundamental rights enjoyed by EU citizens and residents. It became legally binding with the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009.
This section of the website encompasses Charterpedia, an online tool which provides easy-to-access information about the Charter and its provisions. For each Charter Article, it includes the official explanations of the Charter Articles, related European and national case law, and related provisions in national constitutional law as well as in international law. It also contains references to academic analysis and related FRA publications. The information is also available offline in our EU Charter App.
The original compilation was created by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee. Since 2009 it has been maintained and continuously expanded by the FRA.
The European and national case law is also accessible via the Case-Law Database.
Access the Charter in International Sign Language
Our new e-learning tool Charter e-guidance assists judges and other legal practitioners on the field of application of the Charter as laid down in Article 51.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
- Annual report by the European Commission on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (2010 onwards)
- Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU
- Commission notice - Guidance on ensuring the respect for the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union when implementing the European Structural and Investment Funds (‘ESI Funds’)
- Council Conclusions on the Charter of Fundamental Rights after 10 Years: State of Play and Future Work, 20.9.2019
- European Parliament resolution of 12 February 2019 on the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in the EU institutional framework (2017/2089(INI))
- How to better implement the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - Selected Quotes from European Parliament and Council Conclusions 2010 - 2020
ARTICLE-BY-ARTICLE COMMENTARIES ON THE CHARTER
- Bifulco, R., Cartabia, M. and Celotto, A. (2001), L’Europa dei diritti: Commento alla Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione Europea, il Mulino, Bologna.
- Coghian N. Steiert M. (eds.) (2020), The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union: the travaux préparatoires and selected documents
- Holoubek, M. and Lienbacher, G. (eds.) (2019), Commentary on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (GRC-Kommentar), 2nd edition, Manz, Vienna;
- Kellerbauer, M., Klamert, M. and Tomkin J. (eds.) (2019), Commentary on the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Mangas Martin, A. (2008), Carta de los derechos fundamentales de la Unión Europea: Comentario, artículo por artículo, Fundacion BBVA, Bilbao.
- Mastroianni, R., Allegrezza, S., Razzolini, O., Pollicino, O. and Pappalardo, F. (eds.) (2017), Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’Unione Europea, Giuffrè, Milano;
- Meyer, J. and Hölscheidt, S. (eds.) (2019), Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union: Kommentar, (Commentary on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union) 5th edition.
- Peers, S., Hervey, T., Kenner, J. and Ward, A. (scheduled for 2021), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: A commentary, 2nd edition, CH Beck Hart Nomos, Oxford;
- Picod, F., Rizcallah, C. and Van Drooghenbroeck, S. (2020), Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne: Commentaire article par article (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union: Commentary article-byarticle), Bruylant, Bruxelles.
- Sachpekidou E., Tagaras Ch., Kanellopoulou-Malouchou N., Karagiannis V., Lentzis D., Marouda M.-N., Sarmas D., Takis A., Tsolka O., (2020), Κατ’ άρθρο ερμηνεία του Χάρτη των Θεμελιωδών Δικαιωμάτων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (Article-By-Article Commentary Of The Eu Charter Of Fundamental Rights ), Nomiki Bibliothiki, 752 p.
- Toggenburg G. (2019 - 2021), All EU-r rights, Online series published in the EURAC Research in English, Blog (and partly available also in Italian on Lo Spiegone)
OTHER DOCUMENTS, SOURCES AND TOOLS (mostly from projects co-funded by the EU)
- Case-law by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the principle of ne bis in idem in criminal matters. Eurojust February 2024
- European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) judicial publications
The European Union Agency for Asylum produces a range of judicial publications specifically tailored to the needs of members of courts and tribunals competent in asylum matters. These publications comprise judicial analyses, judicial trainers’ guidance notes and compilations of jurisprudence. All materials are developed in English and are translated in several languages. - ACTIONES (Active Charter Training through Interaction Of National Experiences) was an EU-funded project focused on the vertical and horizontal interaction between courts. It resulted in four handbooks on techniques of judicial interactions in the application of the Charter.
- The Charter in action: an EU-funded project that resulted in a best practices handbook for Charter trainings and a training manual;
- Charterclick was an EU-funded project that resulted in a Charter tutorial and an interactive checklist both designed to make understand whether the Charter applies to a given case. Both tools are available on the e-justice platform of the European Commission.
- European Judicial Training Network (ETJN) database lists all available face-to-face judicial training opportunities.
- Council of Europe HELP training platform provides a range of resources on the ECHR. These include distance-learning and self-learning resources on the ECHR and European human rights standards, as well as handbooks and other useful resources.
- Council of Europe HELP: Introduction to Human Rights Protection in Europe - Interplay between the ECHR and the EU Charter
- Judging the Charter: an EU-funded project which resulted in a set of training events, a manual on the role of the Charter in asylum cases and a Charter website that brings together a large amount of Charter-related information, including exercises and training materials, case law and a selection of relevant EU legislation;
- Library of Charter-specific training materials put together by the European Law Academy in Trier which offers a wide spectrum of trainings on the Charter
- Making the Charter of Fundamental Rights a living instrument: an EU-funded project that resulted in a user-friendly Manual on the Charter and Guidelines for civil society actors on how to best use the Charter;
- Making the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights a reality for all - 12 November 2019 - Conference material
NB: The above links are provided for information purposes only. The FRA bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of external websites and links.
260 results found
- Konstytucja a Karta Praw Podstawowych – Dylematy wyboru właściwego standardu ochronyTranslated Title:The Constitution and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The dilemmas of choosing the right standard of protectionPublished in: Die Grundwerte- und Grundrechtsordnung in Polen und Deutschland | System podstawowych wartości i praw w Niemczech i w PolsceYear:2019Page numbers:pp. 669 - 694
- Fundamental Rights at the Heart of the Lisbon Treaty? Changes and Challenges 10 years onPublished in: Svenska institutet för europapolitiska studierYear:2019Page numbers:pp 90-105
- Happy 10th anniversary of the Charter!Published in: European Employment Law Cases 4 3Year:2019Page numbers:157
- Tien jaar EU-Grondrechtenhandvest in NederlandTranslated Title:Ten years of EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the NetherlandsYear:2019
- Prava građana zajamčena poveljom Europske unije o temeljnim pravimaTranslated Title:Citizens rights guaranteed by the charter of fundamental rights of the European UnionYear:2019
- A Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia e o nível mais elevado de proteçãoTranslated Title:The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the highest level of protectionYear:2019
- Constitutional Reasoning in the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: In Search of Public JustificationPublished in: European Public Law 25 2Year:2019Page numbers:pp 183-203
- All EU-r rights - blog seriesPublisher:Blog EUreka!Year:2019
- Towards a common standard of protection of the right to housing in Europe through the Charter of Fundamental RightsPublished in: European Law Journal 25 6Year:2019
- The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Working Time: Bauer, Kreuziger and Shimizu before the Grand ChamberPublished in: International Labor Rights Case Law 5 2Year:2019Page numbers:pp. 242-246
- The charter of fundamental rights of the European Union and the employment relationYear:2019
- The Impact of EU Fundamental Rights on the Employment RelationshipYear:2019
- Naar een nieuw fundament - hoe het Handvest het auteursrecht hervormtTranslated Title:Towards a new basis – the way in which the Charter reforms copyright lawPublished in: Tijdschrift voor Auteurs-, Media- & InformatierechtYear:2019Page numbers:pp.121-132
- L’applicazione del Bill of Rights europeo tra bilanciamento asimmetrico e paradosso federale : il caso dreeeella privacy digitaleTranslated Title:The application of the European Bill of Rights between the asymmetric balancing and federal paradox: the case of digital privacyPublished in: DPCE online 39 2Year:2019Page numbers:pp. 1209-1250
- Commentary on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2nd editionPublished in: GRC-KommentarYear:2019
- Temeljne pravice in vpliv Sodišča EUTranslated Title:Fundamental Rights and the Influence of the EU Court of JusticePublished in: Revija Odvetniške zbornice Slovenije, 2018 XXYear:2018Page numbers:pp 6-10
- Znaczenie Karty Praw Podstawowych UE w postępowaniu celnymTranslated Title:The Importance of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Customs ProceedingsPublished in: Przegląd Prawa Publicznego, 2018Year:2018Page numbers:pp 103-116
- Европейският съд по правата на човека и Съдът на Европейския съюз: Създаване на синергии в областта на защитата на основните праваTranslated Title:The ECHR and the ECJ: Synergies in the area of protecting human rightsPublisher:Sofia University ‘St Kliment Ohridski’Year:2018
- Charte des droits fondamentaux de l'Union européenne. Commentaire article par articleTranslated Title:Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - an article-by-article commentaryPublisher:BruylantYear:2018
- Rolul protecției drepturilor omului reflectat în jurisprudența CJUE în materie al achizițiilor publiceTranslated Title:The role of human rights protection as reflected in the case law of the CJEU on public procurementPublished in: Juridice.roYear:2018
89 total results found
- Published in: Стенограми от пленарни заседания СТО И ВТОРО ЗАСЕДАНИЕYear:2014Summary:The Charter was mentioned in the following debate on former collaborators of state security services.
- Published in: Стенограми от пленарни заседания ДЕВЕТДЕСЕТ И ДЕВЕТО ЗАСЕДАНИЕYear:2014Summary:The Charter has featured in following debate on the Asylum and Refugee Act
- Published in: Стенограми от пленарни заседания ДЕВЕТДЕСЕТ И СЕДМО ЗАСЕДАНИЕYear:2014Summary:The Charter has featured in following debate on electoral rights..
- Published in: Sénat / Journal officiel de la République Française Année 2014 27Year:2014Summary:France, Senate debates on the Bill transposing Directive 2012/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 on the right to information in criminal proceedings
- Published in: Стенограми от пленарни заседания СТО И ВТОРО ЗАСЕДАНИЕYear:2014Summary:The Charter was mentioned in the following debate on the rights of homosexuals.
- Translated Title:Published in: Question et réponse écrite = Schriftelijke vraag en antwoord Législature = Zittingsperiode : 53 0012Year:2013Summary:Written question by a member of parliament to the Prime Minister about internet censorship.The member of parliament posed a question regarding the proposition of a regulation by European Commissioner Kroes COM(2013) 627, which provides that operators can block websites without intervention of the police or the court in order to prevent crimes. The member of parliament stated: ‘Internet censorship needs to be dealt with very carefully given the freedom of expression and information as provided in article 11 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union.’
- Translated Title:Year:2013Summary:In the spring of 2013, in the context of parliamentary debates for amendment of the Romanian Constitution (Constituţia României), several NGOs suggested an amendment of Article 4 (on the principles of equality and non-discrimination) to bring it into compliance with Article 21 of the EU Charter. The proposal was to expand the list of protected grounds, adding ‘sexual orientation’, ‘age’ and ‘disability’, among others. This proposal was undertaken by the Constitutional Forum (Forumul Constituţional) and on 4 June 2013, the Joint Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Revision (Comisia comună a Camerei Deputaţilor şi Senatului pentru elaborarea propunerii legislative de revizuire a Constituţiei României) accepted the inclusion in Article 4 of an exhaustive list of grounds protected against discrimination, as stipulated in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
In reaction, conservative groups (religious groups, conservative politicians) criticised the introduction of the ‘sexual orientation’ ground by invoking the traditional values of Romania. Following these protests, on 11 June 2013 the amendment was discussed once again and rejected. However, a third vote on the provision was organised following protests from civil society NGOs and media attention on the topic. The initial amendment was passed, but for the ground of ‘sexual orientation’ At present, all discussions on constitutional revisions have stopped; they will probably be resumed when political support has built up again. - Year:2013
- Published in: Question et réponse écrite = Schriftelijke vraag en antwoord Bulletin 133 0619Year:2013Summary:Question by a member of parliament to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and European Affairs about freedom of the press in South East Europe. In his reply to the parliamentary question, the minister referred to the Charter when stating the following: ‘[u]ntil today the EU has, through interventions of its representatives and with the support of Belgium, repeated several times that the freedom of expression, guaranteed in article 11 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, is a pillar of democracy. (…)’