On the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the EU Accession to the European Convention on Human Rights

Abstract

After a short presentation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and its features, the paper is focused on the European Union?s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights. As part of the Treaty of Lisbon implementation, this process is not an easy one. The author intends to identify and raise questions on this process, and to emphasise some technical and procedural difficulties, by comparing the two main European human rights systems. Europe has to face many changes and challenges: the recent entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the “new status” of the Charter of fundamental rights (as a legally binding instrument) and the beginning of the process of EU?s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights. This paper is intended to point out some aspects of this new era of the European construction.