Applying the charter of fundamental rights of the European Union in law and policymaking at national level : guidance

Foreword 5 Acronyms and abbreviations 9 Introduction 11 Part I: General orientation 17 1 European Union system of fundamental rights 17 Two sources of fundamental rights 17 General principles of European Union law 18 Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 19 Field of application 19 What is the rationale of Article 51 of the Charter? 21 Beneficiaries 22 Charter principles and Charter rights 22 2 How does the Charter relate to national and international fundamental rights instruments? 24 European Convention on Human Rights 24 Other international human rights instruments 25 National fundamental rights 26 3 Reasons to check whether the Charter applies 27 Duty to respect, observe and promote the Charter 27 More and/or stronger rights offered by the Charter 28 National courts can apply the Charter 32 The Court of Justice of the European Union can interpret the Charter 36 Violating Charter rights could lead to an infringement procedure 38 4 How to check whether the Charter applies 39 Where should you start your assessment? 39 What is the necessary requirement for applying the Charter? 40 Existence of a link to European Union law as a minimum requirement 41 5 In which situations does the Charter apply? 42 When Member States act as an agent for the European Union 42 When Member States need to rely on authorisation under European Union law 44 6 How to apply the Charter 46 What are the relevant tools for interpretation? 46 In what circumstances can the exercise of rights be limited? 47 Part II: Practical tools 49 7 Checklist on the applicability of the Charter 49 Choose the route that reflects your starting point 49 Route A: Cause of national legislative action is an EU act 50 Route B: Legislative proposals outside the process of transposing EU legal acts 60 8 Charter compliance check 69 Stage I: Identification of limitations on fundamental rights 70 Stage II: Assessment of whether or not limitations are at all allowed 72 Stage III: Assessment of whether or not limitations can be justified 76 Annex: Overview of Charter rights 82 Index 95