European Council: Proclamation of Charter of Fundamental Rights

IRIS 2001-1:1/2

Hatice Dilek Baytan

European Audiovisual Observatory

At the Nice Summit on 7, 8 and 9 December 2000, the European Council welcomed the joint proclamation by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission, of the Charter of Fundamental Rights (see IRIS 2000-9: 4).

When commenting on the Nice Summit at the European Parliament on 12 December 2000, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, pointed out that Parliament and the Commission have already made it clear that they intend to apply the Charter in full. This oral commitment, however, is not legally binding because no further steps have been taken in Nice to incorporate the Charter into the Treaties. Annex IV of the Treaty of Nice (provisional text to be approved by the Intergovernmental Conference on Institutional Reform) states that future initiatives should address the status of the Charter proclaimed in Nice in accordance with the conclusion of the European Council in Cologne. It is envisaged to include the incorporation of the Charter into the Treaties in the agenda of the Conference of Member States to be called in 2004.


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This article has been published in IRIS Legal Observations of the European Audiovisual Observatory.