Biarritz Council approves Charter of fundamental rights

The informal European Council held in Biarritz in October 2000 approved the contents of the draft EU Charter of fundamental rights. The Council agreed to adopt the Charter as a political declaration at the Nice summit in December 2000, but there is still pressure from organisations such as the European Trade Union Confederation, European Commission and European Parliament to make the Charter legally binding. It has been suggested that a decision on legal status could be deferred and resolved under the Swedish Presidency in 2001.

The contents of the draft Charter of fundamental rights were approved at the informal European Council held in Biarritz on 13–14 October 2000 (EU0010273N). The Council unanimously approved the content of the Charter and welcomed "the contribution this text brings to the model for values and society that the European Union constitutes". The text will now be forwarded to the European Commission and the European Parliament for formal adoption, after which a "solemn declaration" will be made by the European Council in Nice on 8–9 December 2000.

However, pressure remains for the text to be given a Treaty basis, which will make it legally binding. At the press conference following the end of the Biarritz Council meeting, the French President, Jacques Chirac, stated that the question of legal status remains unresolved: "There are differences of opinion on this point, but that was not on the agenda of our discussions. We have adopted a text, and will finally adopt it in Nice, after it has been adopted officially by the Commission and the Parliament. The Swedish Presidency will then examine what the 15 want with regard to its legal status."

The suggestion that the decision on legal status of the Charter could be postponed until the Swedish Presidency in the first half of 2001 has disappointed the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). A resolution adopted by the ETUC executive committee on 25–26 October 2000 stated that: "ETUC deplores the fact that the informal Biarritz summit did not agree to take up the issue of the immediate integration of the EU Charter in the IGC [Intergovernmental Conference - EU0002229F], nor to express a recommendation as regards the future status of the EU Charter, or to propose a clear follow-up procedure. ETUC stresses the importance of ensuring the legally binding incorporation of the EU Charter in the EU Treaty; a solemn political proclamation will obviously fall short of meeting the objectives and the expectations raised by the Cologne summit initiating the drafting procedure [EU9906180N]. It is the credibility of the European Council that is at stake. A political declaration outside the Treaty could easily be seen as a negative signal by the workers and citizens when it comes to a real recognition of the EU based upon common values and given the same priority as economic cooperation."

Support for awarding the Charter legally binding status has also been expressed by the European Commission and European Parliament. The Commission issued a Communication on 11 October, stating that the Charter should be ultimately incorporated into the Treaty on European Union (TEU) either under a title headed "fundamental rights" or in an annexed protocol. It also called on the Nice Council to launch a process that clearly sets objectives and procedures with a view to awarding the Charter legal status.

Meanwhile, in a vote on 27 October on the outcome of the Biarritz Council, the European Parliament reaffirmed its hope that the Charter would be incorporated into the TEU or cited in Article 6 of the TEU (which already makes mention of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms) when a declaration is made at the Nice Council. This reiterated the statement made at the opening of the Council meeting by the President of the European Parliament, Nicole Fontaine. She said that the "Charter will be fully effective only if it is integrated into the Treaty in some way. If the Charter cannot be incorporated into the Treaty immediately, referring to it in Article 6 could, I think, reconcile the opposing points of view which I know exist. I can assure you that any other solution, on the lines of a mere declaration, would not impress the citizens of Europe, and would tarnish the image of the Union as the guardian of the fundamental rights acknowledged and respected as legally binding throughout our Union."