Charter of Fundamental Rights, "unknown for Romanians"

A Euro barometer survey, published by the European Commission, shows that for the most Europeans the criteria for implementing the provisions from the Charter of Fundamental Rights are not clear.

Although the number of citizens who know about the Charter reached 64percent, compared with 48percent in 2007, the Commission finds that is not clear for Europeans the situations in which it is applied.

This is the reason why the European Executive insists that fundamental rights are primarily protected by national legislation, that the Charter can’t replace.

It applies to the Member States when they are implementing the common law or when the European institutions are preparing new legislation.

26 percent of Romanians would address to The Commission or to European Parliament if they consider that one of their fundamental right is violated, the European average being 19 percent

Photo: The knowledge level of the Chamber. Click on the image for zoom.

Source: Euro Barometer Survey of the European Commission

Only 2 percent of Romanians, comparing to 20 percent of the European average, would appeal to the national lawyer or to an independent one.

However, over 75 percent of Romanians surveyed know the cases in which the Charter is applied, but 65 percent think, mistakenly, that it applies to all actions of the member states, including matters of national competence .

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is legally binding in the European Union for more than 2 years.

Photo: Knowledge concerning the scope of the Charter .

Source: Euro Barometer Survey of the European Commission

Translated by Ioana Vioreanu
MTTLC, Bucharest University