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Friday, July 27, 2007

Charter of Fundamental Rights

From the BBC:

Will the Reform Treaty transfer powers from national governments to the EU?

Yes, the EU exists by virtue of the fact that countries agree to pool sovereignty in certain areas. The Reform Treaty deepens the co-operation in some areas, and extends it to new areas. But opinions differ on how much power this treaty transfers to the EU, and whether it transfers more or less than earlier treaties.

Is the Charter of Fundamental Rights expected to feature in the new treaty?

Yes and no. There will be a reference to it, making it legally binding, but the full text will not be included.

Both the UK and the Netherlands wanted it to be dropped, partly on the grounds that it would make the treaty look too much like the constitution, but they were not completely successful.

The UK has secured an opt-out, which says the charter cannot affect British law. However, experts are divided on how effective this will be.

[...]

Poland says it reserves the right to follow the UK in opting-out of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Ireland says it is studying the opt-out on the, but has no intention of adopting it.

Also helpful, but from the earlier treaty is this link, a Q&A about the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

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