CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: ANTONIO VITORINO UNVEILS COMMISSION'S CONTRIBUTION.

Ant[cent]nio Vitorino, who represents the European Commission on the Convention entrusted with drafting a Charter of Fundamental Rights, reviewed progress thus far at a protracted meeting of the College on April 18. In view of the current state of discussions, Mr Vitorino believes a formal contribution is needed from the Commission, in order to send out a "strong political message" regarding fundamental problems that have emerged during the negotiations. He indicated that a Communication will duly be tabled in May. This political commitment should not be regarded as an act of defiance against the Convention since, on the contrary, the Commissioner believes that it is showing both by the active participation of its members and by the preliminary results coming out of it, that this "constitutional model can work".

Begun in December 1999 (see European Report No 2461 for further details), the Convention's work has entered a particularly active phase. A work plan has been drawn up involving a large number of meetings stretching into October, when the final draft of the Charter is scheduled for final adoption by the Convention. Various hearings have been, or are to be staged, including one for representatives of the Council of Europe on April 17, and one for the candidate countries on June 19 and 20.

The Convention is also planning to have a preliminary draft Charter ready for adoption at its formal meeting on June 5 and 6. On this basis, the Council Presidency is planning to submit a progress report to the Oporto-Feira European Council in June. Moreover, at the request of the future French Presidency, a final draft should be put to the European Council in Biarritz on October 13 and 14 in preparation for the Nice Summit in December.

--Terms of reference

The forum's terms of reference were defined during the June 3/4, 1999 EU Summit in Cologne.

Protection of fundamental rights is a founding principle of the Union and an indispensable prerequisite for her legitimacy. The obligation of the Union to respect fundamental rights has been confirmed and defined by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. There appears to be a need, at the present stage of the Union's development, to establish a Charter of Fundamental Rights in order to make their overriding importance and relevance more visible to the EU's citizens.

The European Council believes that this Charter should contain the fundamental rights and freedoms as well as basic procedural...