CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: CANDIDATE COUNTRIES OFFER THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS.

Relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights.Contributions were made by all thirteen candidate countries: Cyprus, Malta, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Turkey. One of the principal issues addressed was the nature of the relationship between the proposed Charter and the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Several states, notably Cyprus, pointed to their membership of the Council of Europe and therefore the fact that they already apply the ECHR. Turkey in particular insisted on this point, emphasising that the rights outlined in the Charter bear a close resemblance to those of the ECHR. Turkey argued that the introduction of the Charter risks undermining the Council of Europe's Convention which might be relegated to an inferior rank, resulting in the appearance of a hierarchy of human rights within Europe, with different systems for the protection of Fundamental rights separating EU and non-EU countries. Turkey is therefore anxious the EU should subscribe to the ECHR.Several states, not least Malta, believe rights already outlined in the ECHR should be integrated into the Charter, along with rights guaranteed by the EU, notably those based on Court of Justice case law. The Latvian representative described the ECHR and "highly effective", emphasising the need to avoid overlapping between the two texts. Slovenia is anxious that possible inconsistencies with the Council of Europe's Convention be avoided, while the Czech Republic emphasised the risk of conflict between the Court of Justice and the Human Rights Court.Likewise, several states highlighted the fact that they are already party to the Council of Europe's Social Charter and International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions. The Convention debated the question of whether social rights should be included in the future Charter, Estonia expressing firm opposition to their inclusion in the text. Poland also considers that protection of social rights is already guaranteed by the ECHR, Court of Justice case law and EU Directives. Other countries, notably Bulgaria, would prefer to see these rights included in the Charter.Binding nature of the Charter.The candidate countries did not speak with one voice on the question of whether the document should be legally binding. The Maltese representative insisted that the Charter should be a "positive duty". Estonia and Hungary believe...