1. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
A slide show by Federico Cecutti

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The “Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union” was proclaimed on the 7th December 2000 in Nice by the European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission.
The document was not ment to be a Constitution and did not have a jurisdictional value. It just collected a series of rights and values that should be respected and guaranteed.
In 1992 the Maastricht Treaty gave the charter legal value.

3. STRUCTURE
The “Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union” is introduced by a solemn proclamation, signed by the presidents of the European Parliament, of the European Council and of the European Commission.
Subsequently there is a short preamble.
Then, there are 54 articles, organized in 7 chapters. Each chapter has a title and deals with a specific topic.

4. AIMS
The original aim of the Charter was to collect a series of articles dealing with the basic rights which should be guaranteed and respected within the European Union.
The document summarizes the rights guaranteed by national Constitutions and establish a common cultural background for every Member State.

5. CHAPTER I - DIGNITY
It is a meaningful choice that the first chapter deals with the concept of dignity: as a conclusion, it can be said it is considered the basis from which any other consideration begins.
Dignity covers both the respect of physical conditions (death penalty, torture and forced labour are condamned) and the respect of individual identity (integrity and health are promoted and all the abuses on human bodies, ranging from transplantations for profit to torture and from clonations to degrading punishments, are condamned).
ARTICLE 1: Human dignity
ARTICLE 2: Right to life
ARTICLE 3: Right to the integrity of the person
ARTICLE 4: Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
ARTICLE 5: Prohibition of slavery and forced labour

6. CHAPTER II - FREEDOMS
After the first chapter about dignity, the Charter focuses on the freedoms of every human being: as a conclusion, after a brief definition of human being, freedom-oriented rights are introduced.
It must be underlined that the word “freedom” covers a huge range of rights and thus this section collects twelve articles. The most important points dealt with are: security, private life, thought (a clear heritage of eighteenth century), association, education, work, property and asylum.
ARTICLE 6: Right to liberty and security
ARTICLE 7: Respect for private and family life
ARTICLE 8: Protection of personal data
ARTICLE 9: Right to marry and right to found a family
ARTICLE 10: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
ARTICLE 11: Freedom of expression and information

7. ARTICLE 12: Freedom of assembly and of association
ARTICLE 13: Freedom of the arts and sciences
ARTICLE 14: Right to education
ARTICLE 15: Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work
ARTICLE 16: Freedom to conduct a business
ARTICLE 17: Right to property
ARTICLE 18: Right to asylum
ARTICLE 19: Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition

8. CHAPTER III - EQUALITY
The third section of the document is ment to collect all the articles about equality. It is important to consider that it is just after the one about freedom and so equality is considered one of the most important concepts connected to rights.
What is more, the concept of equality is analysed in several acception, ranging from “equality before the law” to cultural, religious, linguistic integration; however, it is important to consider that equality is always connected to non-discrimination.
ARTICLE 20: Equality before the law
ARTICLE 21: Non-discrimination
ARTICLE 22: Cultural, religious and linguistic diversity
ARTICLE 23: Equality between men and women
ARTICLE 24: The rights of the child
ARTICLE 25: The rights of the elderly
ARTICLE 26: Integration of persons with disabilities

9. CHAPTER IV - SOLIDARITY
The section about solidarity is rather heterogeneal and, generally speaking, it collects all the rights implying a relationship between two individuals.
The articles from 27 to 33 are about professional life and regulate both the employee and the employer. It is interesting to relieve in the Charter a rather large number of articles about this topic and, in conclusion, it can be said that even if the topic is not important as the ones dealt with in the previous sections, it must be ruled and defined by several rights.
Going on reading the text, the reader can find miscellaneous articles about society: article 34, for instance, is titled “Social security and social assistance”, then article 35 deals with “Health care”, a topic already introduced in the section about dignity, and subsequently there is an article declaring the right to “Access to services of general economic interest”, a very hot point in contemporary international policies. The last ones are about “Environmental protection” and “consumer protection”.

10. ARTICLE 27: Workers’ right to information and consultation within the undertaking
ARTICLE 28: Right of collective bargaining and action
ARTICLE 29: Right of access to placement services
ARTICLE 30: Protection in the event of unjustified dismissal
ARTICLE 31: Fair and just working conditions
ARTICLE 32: Prohibition of child labour and protection of young people at work
ARTICLE 33: Family and professional life
ARTICLE 34: Social security and social assistance
ARTICLE 35: Health care
ARTICLE 36: Access to services of general economic interest
ARTICLE 37: Environmental protection
ARTICLE 38: Consumer protection

11. CHAPTER V – CITIZEN’S RIGHTS
This section collects all the rights connected to citizenship, both European citizenship and the general concept. Its aim is to guarantee rights so that every individual can access to politics and participate to political life.
ARTICLE 39: Right to vote and to stand as a candidate at elections to European Parliament
ARTICLE 40: Right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections
ARTICLE 41: Right to good administration
ARTICLE 42: Right of access to documents
ARTICLE 43: Ombudsman
ARTICLE 44: Right to petition
ARTICLE 45: Freedom of movement and of residence
ARTICLE 46: Diplomatic and consular protection

12. CHAPTER VI - JUSTICE
The section about justice is an important one because it is the heritage of the first struggles for rights since even Cesare Beccaria declared the importance of these points.
Even if they seem rather obvious, it is important to underline them in order to enlight their necessity. Article 50, in particular, is unusual, probably because it appears strange that an individual could be tried or punished twice for the same reason.
ARTICLE 47: Right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial
ARTICLE 48: Presumption of innocence and right of defence
ARTICLE 49: Principles of legality and proportionality of criminal offences and penalties
ARTICLE 50: Right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same criminal offence

13. CHAPTER VII – GENERAL PROVISIONS
The last section is ment to declare some points about the Charter itself: its aim is to protect every individual guaranteeing the fundamental human rights and so it must not be interpreted in other ways.
Moreover, the last article states the prohibition of abuse of rights and so it prevents people to use rights to go against other rights.
ARTICLE 51: Scope
ARTICLE 52: Scope of guaranteed rights
ARTICLE 53: Level of protection
ARTICLE 54: Prohibition of abuse of rights