Photo: Ricardo Oliveira - PMC
«Mr. President of the European Parliament,
Mr. President of the European Commission,
Honourable Members,
This formal session of the European Parliament today marks the proclamation of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights. From now on, December 12 will go down in history as a key date for European integration.
I feel particularly honoured that this event has taken place during the Portuguese Presidency. All the more so, because it was during our Presidency in 2000 that work started on the Convention that drafted the Charter. It is an honour for Portugal to be associated in this way to one of the most important stages in the project of European citizenship.
This Charter is a commitment to the central values of European civilisation, based on the defence of the dignity of human beings. We remain true to these values as they unfold from both the constitutional tradition common to the Union's Member States, and from international legal instruments, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.
To underline this compatibility, the Lisbon Treaty itself provides for the Union's accession to the Convention of the Council of Europe and recognises the inseparable synthesis that the custody of Fundamental Rights represents in contemporary democracies.
Today is therefore a day of great relevance.
Fundamental Rights have now - formally and irreversibly - become part of the Union's common heritage. An ethical and political heritage. A heritage of citizenship. A heritage of civilisation.
However, this is not just about our heritage. The Charter is also an instrument for action.
For institutions, because the Charter will guide their activities. They must respect the rights and principles of the Charter and promote its application.
And for the citizens, because it shows that the Union is a project of citizenship. The Union is at the service of citizens and protects and promotes their rights.
In the European context, the Charter assumes the protection of human dignity in the field of social rights, in the world of work, in employment, in health, in the area of protection and social assistance and the preservation of the environment.
It is also a Charter of equality and solidarity, of the fight against all kinds of discrimination.
It devotes special attention to children and youth, to equality between men and women, to the role of the elderly, as well as to the important acquis of the protection of individual rights and personal information.
Let me also emphasise the freedoms the Charter consigns in relation to European citizenship and its implicit political rights, as well as the economic freedoms that are at the core of the Treaty of Rome which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. True to our tradition, we reiterate the abolition of the death penalty and I am proud of the decision taken last week by the Council to assign a European Day for the fight against the death penalty.
Finally, I would like to stress that the Charter conciliates the rights of citizens and the rights of people, in the hope that it will reach a wider universe than the actual citizens of the Member States.
It is a fundamental pillar to our conviction that a better world is a world where these rights and freedoms are universally respected.
It will therefore serve as a guideline for the European Union's position on the international stage and for the proposed action in support of the worldwide respect of Fundamental Rights.
This way, European citizens can identify themselves with this Union.
They can identify what rights the Union guarantees them, and understand that Europe is a project of peace and democracy, in which the individual's rights are fully respected.
This is the meaning of this ceremony which unites the three European Institutions. On the eve of the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, we proclaim a Charter with the legal value of Fundamental Law equivalent to that of the Treaties.
The Charter is, above all, a political and legal instrument which is innovative and modern. It is very probably the most up to date synthesis of a comprehensive vision of Fundamental Rights, of which we Europeans are proud to be the protagonists.
Mr. President,
Honourable members,
In a globalised world where many defend that economic and financial rules are absolute, the fact that 27 European States, in the framework of the Union, reiterate this firm commitment to be the guardians of values and objectives that safeguard Fundamental Rights is a remarkable contribution to the regulation of globalisation itself.
In the tradition common to democratic States, Fundamental Rights are means of limiting power and are fundamental instruments for the protection of the individual.
By binding the Union's institutions and the States, the Charter limits power in the name of protecting the rights and interests of citizens and their organisation.
And on providing for this limitation of power, the limits of its application closely observe the principle of subsidiarity and reinforce the eminently democratic nature of the Union itself.
Mr. President,
Honourable members,
The defence of Fundamental Rights is recognised as a value that is essential to European identity, one that is part of our genetic code. It is something that structures the whole European project and which allows the Union to be defined as a Union of values.
And the unconditional affirmation of these values is also what the world expects from Europe.
We are aware that fighting for Fundamental Rights is a daily task. It is an endless task. For the States, civil societies, companies and trade unions, for individual citizens.
That is why, on proclaiming the Charter, we congratulate ourselves on the agreement reached therein, and also because it is recognised to be as legally binding as the actual Union Treaties.
But the Charter is not just something we should congratulate ourselves for; the proclamation of the Charter represents a commitment from the Union's institutions to respect and apply it on a daily basis.
Only in this way will we be fitting heirs of what is best in our collective identity and in our collective tradition.
Thank you.»
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