Concluding remarks

• Author: Santiago Ripol Carulla
• Pages: 353-355

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Santiago RIPOL CARULLA

I. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (here-

inafter referred to as the CFREU) is the catalog of human rights of the

European Union. It is addressed to the Institutions of the Union and to

the Member States (only) when they are implementing European Union

law (art. 51). Adopted in 2000, it became legally binding in 2010, when

the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force. The CFREU is a novel text, both

in comparison with the catalogs of the constitutions of the Member States

and with other international instruments for the protection of human

rights. It is so from the point of view of its content, its structure and its

legal status, since it is not an international human rights treaty; on the

contrary, the Charter is primary EU law, which means that it is binding

including for the Member States.

II. There are several institutions and agencies of the European Union

that monitor the application of the Charter and contribute to its strength-

ening and implementation. Among them, the Fundamental Rights Agen-

cy (FRA) has a triple role: 1) it contributes to making the legislative action

of the EU institutions more respectful of fundamental rights; 2) it partic-

ipates in the dissemination of the Charter; and 3) it has established chan-

nels of cooperation with governments and regional and local entities, on

the understanding that these administrations are largely responsible for

applying the rights of the Charter.

III. During the years 2018-2020 the CJ has made increasing use of the

Charter, contributing to its consolidation in the following three aspects.

First, the CJ has contributed to strengthening the application of the

CFREU by the Institutions. Certainly, the Charter has been a parameter

used by the Court of Justice to control the legality of the Union’s actions.

During these years the CJ has again aff‌irmed that regulations and direc-

tives of Union law must be interpreted in the light of the fundamental

rights of the Union and, in particular, of the Charter. The CJ has adopt-

ed three relevant judgments in this regard: Liga van Moskeeën en Islami-