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Charter of Fundamental Rights - A Soul for Europe

Issued : Wednesday 12 December, 2007

The new Lisbon Treaty not only consolidates our existing fundamental rights buts adds to them in significant ways, and makes them legally binding on all European decisions for the first time. This charter of rights will be a fundamental source of reference for the European Court of Justice and for national courts on EU law into the future.

The Labour Party believes that the achievement of a more social Europe has to be based upon the solid bedrock of fundamental rights. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union sets out in writing that people are at the heart of the European Union. Indeed the rights protected in the Charter go beyond the civil and political rights to ensure the EU places particular emphasis on social, economic and cultural rights for the people of the European Union.

Uniquely among political parties in the Republic, Labour has always been enthusiastic about the Charter. And we alone have always sought to make it legally binding. For the Labour Party and for our sister parties across Europe making the Charter legally binding is one of the key reasons we are supporting the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which will shortly be put to a referendum in Ireland.