2nd Annual EU CharterXchange

When
-
Where
Online
Austria
Organised By
FRA In collaboration with the European Commission
Joint event
The “Annual EU CharterXchange” is an initiative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Commission to enhance the application of the rights enshrined in the EU Charter for Fundamental Rights (EU Charter). The European Commission’s 'Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU’, adopted in 2020, and the subsequent Council conclusions on strengthening the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Union call for further efforts in the Member States to promote the application of the EU Charter. The CharterXchange contributes to this objective by increasing the exchange of knowledge and experience and fostering collaboration among experts, policymakers, and stakeholders through a regular forum, which started in 2023, dedicated to the EU Charter.

Please register to attend!

If you have any questions or need help with your registration, please email: charter@fra.europa.eu

Participation: Open to all public sessions I Exclusive side-meetings by invitation only.

For information on data protection, please see the Data protection notice - 2nd Annual CharterXChange event

Agenda


Fundamental rights and funding

9 December

09:30 The virtual meeting room opens

10:00 – 10:15 Opening and welcome

  • Sanja Jovičić, FRA

10:15 – 10:30 Keynote address

  • Sirpa Rautio, Director FRA
  • Irena Moozova, Deputy Director-General for International Dimension of Justice Policies, Rule of Law and Equality, European Commission 

Presentation will be recorded

10:30 – 11:00 European Commission’s 2024 Annual Report on the Application of the EU Charter

  • Ingrid Bellander Todino, European Commission 

Presentation will be recorded

11:00 – 11:15 Exchange, Questions and Answers

  • Moderated by Martina Törnkvist, European Commission

11:15 – 11:30 Break

11:30 – 12:25 Promoting the application of the EU charter at sub-national level 

This know-how session will explore concrete areas where the EU Charter can add value to cities and other local authorities.  At the session, two cities will showcase how they made use of the EU Charter in their local action. The discussion with participants will aim to identify what information, tools and/or materials could help to empower more cities in promoting and applying the EU Charter, and fundamental rights. The discussion will build on experiences from human rights cities in the EU.   

  • Moderated by Morten Kjaerum, Adj. Prof., Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Geraldine Guille, FRA
  • Contribution by Katarzyna Ziemann, Director of the Department of Social Development, Gdansk; Shams Asadi, Human Rights Commissioner, Vienna 

Presentation will be recorded

12:25 – 13:20 The EU Charter horizontal enabling condition in practice 

This interactive expert session targets practitioners working in the administration of EU funds. It will focus on sharing of promising practices in the application of the enabling condition on the Charter and what can Member States learn from one another in this area. 

  • Moderated by Ana Carrero, European Commission, and Robert-Jan Uhl, FRA

13:20 – 13:30 Final Wrap Up Day 1

  • Sanja Jovičić, FRA

The use of the Charter by national and European courts

10 December

09:30 The virtual meeting room opens

10:00 – 10:05 Opening and welcome by the moderator

  • Martina Törnkvist, European Commission

10:05 – 10:20 Recent CJEU case law on the EU Charter

This presentation is designed for judges, lawyers and other legal practitioners who want to know more about the Charter and its use before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

  • Moderated by Martina Törnkvist, European Commission
  • Presentation by: Maciej Szpunar, First Advocate General, Court of Justice of the European Union

Presentation will be recorded

10:20 – 10:35 Questions and Answers 

10:35 – 11:20 The Charter before Supreme and Constitutional Courts

This interactive expert session is directed at judges, lawyers and legal practitioners interested in the practical use of the Charter in national courtrooms. It will discuss how national courts can navigate conflicting interpretations of the Charter by international and national courts. The session will allow judges to exchange promising practices and practical solutions. 

  • Welcoming words: Ingrid Derveaux, Secretary General, European Judicial Training Network (EJTN)  
  • Moderated by: Lorenza Calcagno, EJTN expert and judge at the Genova Court, and Sanja Jovičić, FRA
  • Contributions by Simina Tanasescu, Judge, Romanian Constitutional Court, Valeria Piccone, Judge, Italian Supreme Court, Boštjan Zalar, Judge, Slovenian Administrative Court 

11:20 – 11:30 Break

11:30 – 12:30 Using the EU Charter of fundamental rights to protect democracy and the rule of law in EU Member States

This session is a combination of a presentation and an interactive expert session. It will address judges, lawyers and other legal practitioners who have an interest in the link between the Charter and democracy as well as the rule of law. After a short presentation by John Morijn, there will be an interactive exchange of case law and concrete experiences amongst the participants.

  • Moderated and introduced by: John Morijn, Member of the FRA Scientific Committee 
  • Contributions by: Carsten Zatschler, Senior Counsel (SC) at the Bar of Ireland and litigator before European Courts and Cecilia Rizcallah, Professor of European law and Fundamental Rights at the UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles.

Presentation will be recorded

12:30 – 13:20 The European Arrest Warrant and the EU Charter

This interactive expert session for judges, lawyers and other legal practitioners will focus on the role of the Charter in the European Arrest Warrant Proceedings. The objective is to exchange on case law and concrete experiences amongst the participants when it comes to issuing and executing European Arrest Warrants and the principle of proportionality and fundamental rights-based grounds for non-execution.

  • Moderated by: Jesca Beneder, European Commission, and Jana Gajdosova, FRA
  • Contributions by: Vânia Costa Ramos, Practicing criminal lawyer in Portugal and the Chair of the European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA), and Prof. Vincent Glerum, Senior legal advisor to the Extradition and Surrender Chamber of the District Court of Amsterdam; Professor of international and European criminal law, University of Groningen 

13:20 – 13:30 Day 2 wrap up

  • Martina Törnkvist, European Commission

Selected challenges for the application of the Charter

11 December

Plenary

09:30 The virtual meeting room opens

10:00 – 10:05 Opening and welcome by the moderator

  • Gabriel N. Toggenburg, FRA

10:05 – 11:00 The EU Charter, the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and their interaction against the background of the EU’s accession to the Convention  

This session will start with two short statements: one on the status quo and implications of the accession delivered by the EU’s chief negotiator for the European Union and one on the interplay between the EU Charter and the ECHR delivered by the Deputy Grand Chamber Registrar at the European Court of Human Rights. These brief statements will be followed by an interview-style debate triggered and moderated by Siobhan Mcinerney-Lankford, FRA before the session will open for exchange between practitioners, academia and law students on what accession to the ECHR means for the EU and especially its Charter of fundamental rights. 

  • Moderated by: Siobhan Mcinerney-Lankford, FRA
  • Contributions by: Johan Callewaert, European Court of Human Rights, Felix Ronkes Agerbeek, European Commission

Presentation will be recorded 

11:00 – 12:00 Drivers, barriers and promising practices in the application of the Charter: examples from the Member States

This exchange amongst practitioners from the different Member States offers a forum for the exchange of experiences and for mutual learning. Civil servants, legal practitioners and researchers are invited to share initiatives aimed at enhancing the application of the Charter.

  • Moderated by: Sanja  Jovičić, FRA
  • Contributions by: Barbara Trefil, Charter Focal Point, Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria, Elitsa Todorova, Chief Expert, Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, Sanderijn Wierink, Judge and Court Coordinator European law, Rotterdam Court

12:00 – 12:15 Break

12:15 – 13:15 The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and the EU Charter

Will the new fundamental rights safeguards in the pact on migration and asylum promote a Charter-compliant implementation of the pact? 
Three examples will illustrate opportunities and challenges: fundamental rights monitoring; EU Asylum Agency guidance and tools; role of national courts.
 

  • Moderated by: Adriano Silvestri, FRA
  • Contributions by: Fabian Lutz, European Commission, Thomas Jezequel, EUAA, Luca Perilli, Catania Tribunal

13:15 - 13:30 Conclusions by Gabriel N. Toggenburg, FRA