Source: https://eutopialaw.com/2011/09/15/is-the-uk%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Copt-out%E2%80%9D-from-the-eu-charter-of-fundamental-rights-worth-the-paper-it-is-written-on/
Timestamp: 2019-04-18 14:44:23+00:00

Document:
Is the UK’s ‘opt-out’ from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights worth the paper it is written on? Part 1.
The UK Government has long sought to play down the significance of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In its negotiations around, and public presentation of, the substance of the Charter (as originally solemnly proclaimed in 2000) the position of the UK Government was that the Charter simply consolidated existing EU fundamental rights jurisprudence, contained no new rights and did not allow the courts any new powers. And when it was proposed that the Charter be incorporated into TEU by Treaty amendment, the UK sought an “opt-out” from certain of the Charter provisions, which is now contained in Protocol 30 to the Lisbon Treaty. In this series of posts EUtopia law considers the effectiveness of this self-proclaimed opt-out.
UK Governments over the past 20 years, of whatever political hue, have consistently shared a post-Thatcherite hostility to the idea of courts telling them what to do. Particular suspicion has focused, in this regard, on grand proclamations of fundamental rights contained in a variety of international instruments. In the past, our politicians were happy to sign up to these if they remained statements of eschatological hope only. More recent experience has been, however, that (national and international) courts have tended to get their hands on these documents and, taking international law seriously, transformed them into catalogues of justiciable individual rights. This transformation of aspiration into obligation is seen, from the political perspective, as a zero sum game: the increase in the jurisdiction of the courts to consider and adjudicate on these instruments has been experienced as a reduction in power for the politicians, giving them less room to manoeuvre. It is against this background that one can begin to understand the intent and purpose behind the proclaimed UK (subsequently joined by Poland) “opt-out” from provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights set out in Protocol No 30 TEU.
Title IV of the EU Charter on ‘Solidarity’ comprises: Art 27 CFR workers’ right to information and consultation within the undertaking employing them; Art 28 CFR right to collective bargaining and industrial action; Art 29 CFR right of access to placement services; Art 30 CFR protection in the event of unjustified dismissal; Art 31 CFR right to fair and just working conditions; Art 32 CFR prohibition of child labour and protection of young people at work; Art 33 CFR protection of family life and its reconciliation with professional life; Art 34 CFR entitlement to social security and social assistance; Art 35 CFR right of access to preventive health care; Art 36 CFR right of access to services of general economic interest; Art 37 CFR claim to environmental protection and sustainable development; Art 38 CFR expectation of consumer protection. And again, on a strict analysis the claim in Article 1(2) of Protocol No 30 TEU that the Charter does not create “justiciable rights” applicable in Poland or in the United Kingdom wholly misses the point. The Charter does not create rights within individual State territories, and the CJEU in enforcing the provisions of the Charter as against Union institutions – and, where appropriate, also against individual Member State authorities – is not creating or enforcing those rights within national territories. It is, instead, enforcing these within the supra-national realm of EU law.
This is, however, arguably stating no more than the obvious, and should have no limiting effect on the interpretation and application of the Charter’s provisions.
In the second part of this series of posts EUtopia law will examine the potential impact of the upcoming decision in NS v Secretary of State for the Home Department C-411/10 on the effect of Protocol 30. Stay tuned!
This entry was posted in Discussion and Debate and tagged Aidan O'Neill, Charter of Fundamental Rights by eutopialaw. Bookmark the permalink.

References: Art 27
 Art 28
 Art 29
 Art 30
 Art 31
 Art 32
 Art 33
 Art 34
 Art 35
 Art 36
 Art 37
 Art 38
 CJEU