Protection of Fundamental Rights in the EU - Essay Example

114386 The European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights signed on 7th December 2000 in Nice and through it, for the first time1 European Union citizens were given complete political, civil, social and economic equality2. In human history, this is the first occasion that such liberal rights were given a section of world community. Even though American constitution enshrines all fundamental rights of mankind and perhaps is the first democracy to do so, European union fundamental rights add many more aspects into American rights. These rights are divided into six sections and many more sub branches with additional rights: 1. Dignity 2. Freedom 3. Equality 4. Solidarity 5. Citizen's rights 6. Justice3. Fundamental rights have not come to the citizens of European countries for the first time. In most of the European countries, these rights have already been there. Some of the erstwhile communist countries naturally did not have many civil liberties, but with the fall of Communism in Europe, these rights have been restored. What made the European union fundamental rights unique was that the rights are equal to all, disregarding the race, colour, ethnicity and nationality. The political leanings of the countries too did not matter any more. These rights have come as a gift to many of these countries, which have not seen much of fundamental rights for a long time. It also has given an additional dignity to the European Union and its citizens, an identity of their own, a distinguished existence. The charter proclaims: "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 justice4". Human dignity, Right to life, Right to the integrity of the person, Prohibition of torture or inhuman treatment, Prohibition of slavery and forced labour, Right to Liberty and Security, respect for private and family life, protection of personal data, right to marry and right to found a family, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and information, freedom of assembly and of association, freedom of the arts and sciences, right to education are just to name a few. European countries always had fundamental rights and liberties5; only they had never taken a consistent form of a group or a union. Fundamental rights have really empowered the European union citizens and to see that, there is no other better place than European Court of Justice where the citizens vociferously fight for these new rights that have become theirs now. With this, EU has tried to wipe out centuries of inner struggles, bitter wars and unending conflicts. It has also tried to wipe out the racial discrimination, and elimination like that of Jews. It is a great step in human rights, where all citizens were awarded the same enshrined rights without any prejudice or favour. There is no doubt that European Union is rather obsessed about these rights and the Court of Justice attaches tremendous importance to them. There are various reasons for this obsession. European Union is not a body with an authority; this means, it does not have a divine, inherited right to be there, like a monarchy. As it does not belong to any particular country, it also does not have a chosen right, or a right of authority. European Union itself is a created institution, created for future safeguarding of European countries, as a last resort to save Europe from inner bickering that had not only led to many wars, but two all consuming World Wars, bringing countries all over the world into its orbit. It had also witnessed an extremely bloody French Revolution, an equally unpleasant Russian revolution that led into communism and a considerable number of Eastern European countries were sucked into it. Europe had always been the continent where world problems were initiated. Again, it was in Europe that the Cold war started. Europe had not only the troublemaker of the world, but also the war zone. It has seen religious bigotry, wars and killings in the name of religion. More than that, it has witnessed the worst holocaust in the world, the elimination of Jews under Hitler's rule. European Union cannot have an existence without being haunted by this unsavoury past. The same goes to the nation states, who are rather ashamed or intimidated by their past records. Even today, with plenty of justification, Germans are accused of starting both the world wars. Germany was never allowed to mourn its millions of soldiers and civilians, because they were the enemy, who started it all. For decades, they were accused of all virulent abuse of fundamental and human rights. Old soldiers of the First and Second World Wars, refused to shake hands with equally old German soldiers, because it had been difficult for them to overcome the enmity even after decades. The mental barriers, difficulties, grudge and anger against countries, which killed their young people, is not easy to forget. Germany too lost a whole generation. But branded as aggressors, Germany could grieve only in silence. It had been unable to glorify their heroes. Under such atmosphere, existence of European Union was the absolute necessity, though sometimes, the all-sweeping nature of the EU frightens Member States. Today EU has proclaimed the fundamental rights and it knows that these fundamental rights will hold the European continent together because human beings, by nature, are fond of freedom and liberty6. These rights will bind one citizen to another beyond the country lines because, when it comes to their personal liberty, they are the same, irrespective of country or political ideology; irrespective of being British or German or Albanian. This bond will bind them together and that is the essence of European union. It connects the citizens with the continent and not with the countries. If these rights are eliminated or granted in a discriminatory way, the soul of the union would be lost. It would also be detrimental to the existence of the EU, because EU will immediately lose its significance and the right to be officiating as the central presiding body. Hence, fundamental rights and EU are complimentary to each other and they connect with the citizens of EU through these enshrined rights. This is also a signal that Europe has left behind its quarrelling bloody past of gory happenings. It is now looking forward to peaceful existence and blissful liberty for its citizens. The continent, compared to other continents, has gone through the worst upheavals. Another continent that had suffered without reason or rhyme, through slavery is Africa. What makes Europe's case unique is that it suffered without any necessity, because the continent housed the most advanced nations of the world and the most brilliant diplomats dwelled there. Still it underwent very dark spells of unhappiness. The lack of understanding and continuous rivalry between the European countries had made it a very sad continent, and this was realised after the Second World War, thus leading the path to the existence of European union. So, one can almost say that it deserved the best. The European court of Justice, in the year 1996, realised that the established treaties giving various provisions for the establishment of European Union, technically does not allow the court of Justice to reach the European convention of Human Rights and as a result, the Charter came into existence, empowering not only the EU citizens, but also the EU itself. It has even gone to the extent of prohibiting reproductive cloning of human beings. This had been criticised as interference with discovery, scientific research and innovation. Scientists also complained that this is slapped on scientific community without much farsightedness into the future, because it is not possible to find out what exactly is needed in later years, as far as science and its advancement are concerned7. Today, countries belonging to European continent, with their powerful mass medias, point out even the smallest human rights abuse in other countries. Actually, it was the European continent itself, which had abused all boundaries of human rights during the Second World War. Fortunately, the leaders of Nation States are aware of it, and with rare far sight, they have decided to rectify the past error in whichever way possible and also resurrect the fundamental rights, so that this kind of haunting past is not created again. World has shown many times that it is not easy to defend these delicate rights and the effort and fight should be on daily basis8. It has a great impact on the lives of European citizens, and even though most of the European countries are well established and highly advanced, there are many countries in the continent, who are uncertain about their future and the rights of their citizens, and most of these countries depend on outside help for sustenance. Their rulers and governments are shaky and left to themselves, they are quite capable of tottering into abyss that would create an impossible situation, pulling down the other countries into the abyss of war and conflict. This is exactly how it happened when the Archduke was murdered and the chain of events led to the First World War. So, helping these countries with aid, and its citizens with their civil rights is, as visualised by European leaders, very important. One rotting system in the vicinity can easily set the rot in other systems too. Once drawn into controversy, human beings and their States, tend to become illogical and irrational as witnessed many times over by history. When such countries and rulers are part of a much bigger system, their voices could be heard and disputes could be solved. Hence, these mean a lot of to European countries and citizens9. They are more aware of their rights today and keep a cautious eye on their violation. Today the internal borders of European countries are slowly blurring. Even though there are many tools to protect the fundamental rights, the most important institution that enforces it is the Court of Justice. Now the EU treaty covers internal freedoms like free movement of goods, services, capital, investments and people. And people are not discriminated any more on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age10. It grants right of residence anywhere throughout the EU11. Having laid down these laws, it has become its most important duty to protect them on a daily basis. These rights, unlike property rights, have to be safeguarded every minute from the onslaught of human rights predators who would try to undermine others' rights for the benefit of their own. This could be a person, institution, nation, government or a dictator in the guise of a popular leader. The EU obsession also arises due to another factor. Article 22 of the EC Treaty allows the Council of Ministers to introduce further enhancement of these rights for their citizens and this sets a standard to the new and prospective members of EU, laying down the rule that they have to meet all these rights. This explains Turkey's inability to get into the European Union so far. Free investment and free trade with free domicile is altering Europe into a single, undivided and powerful continent, even financially and it would pose a strong challenge to any other single country in future. Left to themselves, European countries cannot attain the previous exalted positions, even the imperial England. But as a combined force, Europe could be dominant. Even if the doubters say that there was no necessity of having a Charter on Fundamental Rights as ED rights were already in place, covering most of them and this has only succeeded in confusing people, national courts, and made decisions more difficult for EU Court of Justice by overlapping rules and regulations. On the other hand, the supporters claim that it has established a "citizen's Europe", resurrecting the long forgotten rights. People too had fallen into the routine of being ruled with a hidden whip and have forgotten all about their rights. Rights always invoke idealism in people, whereas denial of many rights could provoke rivalry, sense of unhealthy competition, and in some cases, frustration and cynical rebelliousness. This does not mean that there are no frictions in the EU. There are many. Some of the Member States do not agree with the EU reiteration of fundamental rights. There are differences in the national laws directly conflicting with EU laws. All countries are not comfortable with this level of human freedom, as they find it difficult to administer and govern. Most of the communist countries have a lot of problems with this kind of extremely liberal laws. Communism tuned medias wonder at these laws bordering to lawlessness. Private laws in England and France are totally different and every country believes that theirs is the best system. EU itself is not popular in every country, as we have recently seen in the referendum in France. Hence, entire going has not been good for the EU. But EU, with suitable support from bigger Nation States had been continuously and obstinately trying to keep the fundamental rights of citizens in place, as we can see by the judgements passed by the European Court of Justice. Even though the civil and political rights were welcomed very well, economic and social rights did not meet with great support12. Some of the member states are also suspicious of the EU's ultimate intentions. What is the EU doing Is it becoming an empire builder13 All criticism apart, and the accusation that EU is becoming obsessive about the fundamental rights on one side, European Union has worked wonders where Human Rights and Fundamental Rights are concerned. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 1. G.R. Ainne De Burca and Joanne Scott, ed. Constitutional Change in the EU From Uniformity to Flexibility (Oxford: Hart Publishing), 2000. 2. Ramara K. Hervey and Jeff Kenner, ed., Economic and Social Rights under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - A Legal Perspective, (Oxford: Hart Publishing), 2003. 3. Paul Craig and Grainne De Burca, EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials, 3rd edn., (Oxford University Press), 2003. ONLINE SOURCES: 1. http://www.europarl.eu.int/charter/default_en.htm 2. http://www.eudelbangladesh.org/en/specialfeature/eucharterfundamentrights.htm 3. http://www.eudelbangladesh.org/en/specialfeature/eucharterfundamentrights.htm 4. http://www.fff.org/freedom/0201b.asp 5. Read More