List of ContentsList of Contents To ensure that the Charter becomes a reality for all, in December 2020, the Commission adopted the Strategy to strengthen the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the EU.The Charter strategy focuses on supporting key partners in applying the Charter. The relevant activities are grouped under four pillars: Effective application by the Member States.Empowering civil society organisations, rights defenders and justice practitioners.The Charter as a compass for EU institutions.Strengthening people’s awareness about their fundamental rights. Annual reports on the application of the Charter Since 2010, the European Commission has been publishing annual reports on the application of the Charter. Following the Charter strategy, since 2021, the Charter reports focus on different thematic areas of strategic relevance governed by EU law. Read the annual reports on the application of the Charter Charter focal points In the Charter strategy, the Commission invited the Member States to nominate a Charter focal point to ease the flow of information and good practice on the Charter and coordinate capacity building efforts in their Member State. Their functions are intended to encourage cooperation between different levels of government, with the EU institutions, and with civil society organisations and human rights defenders. Fundamental rights training The European Commission organises training for justice professionals on the application of the Charter under the European judicial training strategy 2021-2024. The European training platform contains e-learning materials and training on fundamental rights directed at legal practitioners and justice professionals. The Commission also organises training for EU staff on applying the Charter in impact assessments.It also co-finances the Human Rights Education for Legal professionals (HELP) programme, which contains a free e-learning course on the interplay between the Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights. The course is intended for judges, prosecutors and other lawyers to learn on European fundamental rights standards.For seminars and webinars on fundamental rights by the European Judicial Training Network,see here. Awareness-raising on the Charter Strengthening people’s awareness on the Charter is one of the four pillars of the Charter strategy. In 2019, only 4 in 10 respondents to a Eurobarometer survey were aware of the Charter and only 7% could identify when it applies. The Commission carried out in 2022 an awareness raising campaign to inform people on how to claim their Charter rights and where to turn to if these are breached. Social media channelsEU RightsEU Justice and ConsumersOther social networks Fundamental rights in impact assessments EU legislation and policies must respect the Charter. In the Charter strategy, the Commission stated its intention to strengthen the assessment of fundamental rights impacts and use the Charter as a compass for EU institutions. In 2011, the Commission adopted an operational guidance on taking into account of fundamental rights in Commission impact assessments. It supplements the Better Regulation Tool 29 on Fundamental rights, including the promotion of equality. The operational guidance is currently being revised with examples from recent impact assessments, as well as new case law of the CJEU. The guidance can serve as a source of information for policy makers at national and local levels when they assess the compliance with fundamental rights of their legislation that implements EU law, in addition to providing advice to Commission staff. The European Commission works with co-legislators to ensure that adopted EU law is in line with the Charter, besides assessing the fundamental rights impacts of its legislative proposals. Stakeholders have a central role in providing information on the potential impact of fundamental rights on new EU legislation. Everyone can share their knowledge through the Have your say portal. Funding to support the application of fundamental rights Through the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, the European Commission provides financial support to national authorities and civil society organisations for raising awareness on and building capacity to apply the Charter.Consult the CERV programmeNational judges and other legal practitioners have an important role in ensuring that individuals can assert their EU rights, including fundamental rights. Through the Justice programme, the European Commission funds the training of justice professionals and legal practitioners, supports judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters and effective access to justice for citizens and businesses.Consult the Justice programme The horizontal enabling condition on the Charter The horizontal enabling condition on the Charter - the Charter HEC - requires Member States to ensure the effective application and implementation of the Charter in the implementation of the EU funds covered by the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR). The CPR introduces of ‘enabling conditions’ for all the EU funds it covers. There are four horizontal enabling conditions in the areas of public procurement, state aid, compliance with the Charter, and the application of the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities. There are also 16 thematic enabling conditions that apply to specific areas and sectors. To have their expenditure reimbursed, Member States must fulfil all four horizontal enabling conditions, and the thematic ones which are relevant to their programmes. The conditions must be respected throughout the entire programming period.The Charter HEC requires Member States to establish arrangements to ensure that the programmes supported by the CPR funds and their implementation comply with the relevant provisions of the Charter and reporting arrangements to the monitoring committee regarding cases of non-compliance of operations supported by these funds with the Charter and complaints regarding the Charter.
