Purpose of the seminar

Since the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter on Fundamental Rights came into force almost two years ago, the European Parliament and the Commission have dealt with many petitions and complaints regarding the application of the Charter.

Citizens' interests and expectations as regards the enforcement of the Charter are high. However, the provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions and bodies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law. This general provision creates too many misunderstandings amongst the citizens and consequently, there is disillusionment in the perception of the scope of application of the Charter amongst citizens with the European Union itself. The institutions of the European Union have therefore a responsibility to remedy this situation.

It is important that people who consider that their fundamental rights are being undermined or attacked have access to practical information on the judicial and non-judicial remedies open to them at EU and Member State level. They should be able to clearly identify which institution or body is best placed to assist them. The Commission's 2010 Annual Report on the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights provides a first assessment of the current situation.

This seminar, organised jointly by the Commission and the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, explored how complaints on fundamental rights are handled at EU and Member State level, identifying best practices in this field and examining ways to improve cooperation between responsible authorities and institutions at EU and national level.

In addition to members of the Petitions Committee; representatives from Member States; EU institutions, bodies and agencies; from the platform of organisations of National Human Rights institutions; offices of Ombudsmen (including Children's Ombudsmen); from Equality bodies; the Council of Europe and the UN were invited to attend. Speciality observers, academics, law experts representatives of civil society were given the floor.

Overview & recommendations

Viviane Reding, Vice-president of the European Commission and Erminia Mazzoni, Chairman of the Committee on Petitions, co-hosted the event and introduced the seminar.

The session brought together eminent legal experts who discussed the application of the Charter in relation to specific problems raised by complaints and petitions. Members and participants were invited to explore possible judicial and non-judicial avenues for responding to such concerns.

Practices in EU Member States

The event also provided focus on the practical aspects related to the handling of complaints, the different non-judicial redress mechanisms and how they work in practice.

The need for greater awareness and information sharing between the institutions and citizens was emphasised so that the public has more access and knowledge as to how to have their complaint heard. An informative brochure, website and social networking space were proposed in this regard.

Redress in cases of fundamental rights violations

The exchange of information at the seminar enabled participants to identify areas for further cooperation, particularly between the EU institutions and bodies that receive complaints on fundamental rights outside EU competence and the bodies at national level dealing with fundamental rights.

Speakers suggested increased awareness of the Charter of Fundamental Rights across the EU and a strengthening of respect amongst Member States for the Charter in domestic law. The European Commission was encouraged to provide more technical assistance to Institutions and to monitor the accession to the Charter in terms of implementation and judgements.

Overall, these aforementioned recommendations and others placed heavy emphasis on the need to improve access for complainants to effective redress mechanisms when their fundamental rights are violated.

Seminar Agenda

Seminar participants & related documentation