On 1 December 2019, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights will celebrate its 10th anniversary since it became legally binding, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009. To mark this anniversary, the European Commission, together with the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), is holding a conference tomorrow, with the aim of looking at how to improve the use and awareness of the Charter to bringing it to life for citizens in the EU.
The Charter upholds and protects core European values, which are reflected across all the EU’s legal and policy initiatives, such as the General Data Protection Regulation and the new rules to protect victims of crime and whistleblowers. The Charter is an essential tool in making sure that people’s fundamental rights are promoted and protected.
Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, stated: “We have been and we will continue working towards a culture of fundamental rights in the EU. All the actors in the Charter’s enforcement chain have a role to play in making it truly effective in people’s lives. The conference is a timely occasion to feed into the Commission’s reflections ahead of a new Charter Strategy.”
