Leg. Dev.: The Draft of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Step in the Process of Legitimizing Eu as a Political Entity, and Economic-Social Rights as Fundamental Human Rights


7 Colum. J. Eur. L. 141 (2001)

E. Dana Neacsu. Reference Librarian, Arthur Diamond Law Library, Columbia University School of Law.

On October 2, 2000, the European Union (EU) Convention, specially constituted by the European Council to compose an EU draft Charter of Fundamental Rights (Charter), officially issued its Charter. On October 13, 2000, Roman Herzog, the President of the Convention, forwarded the Charter to the European Council for a preliminary discussion at the Biarritz summit. At the end of the summit, the European Council unanimously endorsed the draft Charter and “no Member State … reopened the debate on its substance.” The next step will be to have it proclaimed as the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and ensure that it becomes a binding legal instrument, perhaps as part of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).