INTRODUCTION

Fundamental rights are protected in a very different framework by the EU as compared to the Council of Europe. The EU is not of itself a human rights organisation and it has never been given a general competence to protect fundamental rights. At the same time, the EU has adopted one of the most modern collections of fundamental rights. The EU is legally bound to comply with the Charter, and it has agreed to accede to the Convention. As a result of these (and other) developments, fundamental rights have been given an important place within the EU legal order.

This chapter aims to set out the main principles of the EU ‘ s system of fundamental rights protection. This mainly serves as an introduction to this system so that a selection of topics, which are of particular importance to further examine the concept and the doctrine of positive obligations, can be studied further in the next chapters.

First, a brief explanation of how fundamental rights have come to be recognised within the EU legal order and the EU Treaties is provided (section 6.2.). The next section points out that there are in fact several rationales for the protection of fundamental rights under EU law which are of importance in order to understand the further development of fundamental rights protection within this system (section 6.3.). Subsequently, the recent important institutional developments in the field of EU fundamental rights protection that have taken place are addressed (section 6.4.). Aft er that, the content and the specific status of the Charter are explained (section 6.5.), while the general principles of EU law are also examined, since they continue to provide a basis for the protection of fundamental rights by the EU (section 6.6.). Then, the specific topics of the scope of application of the Charter (section 6.7.), the relationship between the protection of fundamental rights at EU level and at national level (section 6.8.), and the relationship between the EU and the Convention are discussed (section 6.9.). Some brief attention is also paid to the specific distinction that applies between rights and principles under the Charter (section 6.10.). Lastly, the the main findings of this chapter are set out (section 6.11.).