The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – Some Reflections on its External Dimension

Published date01 March 2001
DOI10.1177/1023263X0100800101
Date01 March 2001
AuthorJan Wouters
Subject MatterEditorial
Editorial
3 8 MJ 1 (2001)
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - Some Reflections
on its External Dimension
§ 1. Introduction
The present issue of this Journal is entirely dedicated to the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union (hereinafter ‘the Charter’), which has been solemnly
proclaimed by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of the EU at
Nice on 7 December 2000.1 This special attention is well deserved. Indeed, as stated in
its preamble, the Charter
reaffirms […] the rights as they result, in particular, from the
constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the
Member States, the Treaty on European Union, the Community Treaties,
the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms, the Social Charter adopted by the Community
and by the Council of Europe and the case-law of the Court of Justice of
the European Communities and of the European Court of Human Rights.2
If that does not qualify as a common law of Europe, what then would? More than any
other European human rights document, the Charter presents itself as a fully up-to-date
Ius Commune Europaeum of human rights protection in Europe. The contributions in
this issue illustrate this point and examine the multiple legal issues raised by the Charter
from a ius commune perspective worthy of this Journal.3 They are the fruits of a
workshop held on 23 November 2000 at Leuven University as part of the annual
colloquium of the Ius Commune Research School. This helps to explain why the
1. [2000] O.J. C364/1.
2. Fifth recital to the preamble.
3. For other special issues of law journals dedicated partly or entirely to the Charter, see for instance 25
NJCM Bulletin (2000), 924-967; 12 Revue universelle des droits de l’homme (2000), N° 1-2.

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