The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The EU
Charter of Fundamental Rights is part II of the European Constitution and has
very little if anything to do with extending or boosting workers or human
rights.
* The Charter does NOT get
around the Thatcher anti-trade union legislation.
* The Charter does NOT
contain a list of fundamental trade union rights.
* There was NO watering
down of the Charter by Mr Blair or anybody else.
* The Charter does not
give a long list of rights either, except in vague terms.
For example Article II-1 says: ?Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected and protected.?
This “right” is not further defined and
could mean anything the EU Court of Justice chooses it to mean.
Article II-2 (1) simply states: “Everyone
has the right to life.?”
The question is “where does life begin
and where does it end?” Most of the 25 EU Member States have quite different
laws on abortion and euthanasia. It is perfectly clear that national laws
must stand. The first “right” – “Everyone
has the right
to life?, is just a pleasant vague phrase.
This is in line with Subsidiarity where matters are handled nationally rather than at
the EU superstate
level.
Article II-51 (1) states: “The
provisions of this Charter are addressed to the Institutions, bodies and agencies of
the
The Constitution Article II-28 states:
“Workers and employers, or their respective organisations, have,
in accordance with Union law and
national laws and practices, the right
to negotiate and conclude collective agreements
at the appropriate levels and, in
cases of conflicts of interest, to take
collective action to defend their interests, including strike action.”
Subsidiarity would apply in this case and is backed
by the declarations in the
rear pages of the Treaty. There has been no attempt to “water it
down”, or any attempt to alter the Charter since it was solemnly agreed at the same
time as the Nice Treaty negotiations two years ago.
There is no list of fundamental trade union rights in the
Charter.
This is why Mr Blair was happy to agree
the text of the whole Treaty in July precisely because anti-trade union
legislation in
Mr Blair’s own Minister for
So what precisely is going on?
There is an attempt to win the labour
movement over to support the whole EU Constitution on one or two vague articles
in the Charter.
Is there collusion between the Prime
Minister’s office and the TUC to damp down all debate or discussion on the
EU state Constitution at this year’s
Congress?
The purpose of the Charter, as the EU
Court of Justice requested, is to further extend the power of the Court which
only acts on behalf of the EU. This is precisely for the purpose of those who
gain out of the centralisation of power and part of turning the EU into a
state. The EU Constitution and in particular the EU Charter of Fundamental
rights will not improve, extend or boost the rights of those who work. If the
Charter ever becomes part of EU law, these rights will be diminished. The
Charter would give a blank cheque to this EU institution precisely because this
What is clear is the need to have an
open and vigorous debate in the labour movement. This would allow a rational
position to be arrived at after taking into account all the implications of the
EU state Constitution. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is only a small 24
page part amongst 852 pages of a Treaty.
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