Freedom of movement and of residence in EU Charter & sundry notes

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union does not bring the citizens of the EU new rights, but it is a handy compilation of freedoms and rights from a number of sources. More specifically the rights based on EU citizenship are summarised in Title V Citizens’ rights, from Article 39 to Article 46.

The freedom of movement and of residence is found in Article 45 (OJEU 30.3.2010 C 83/400):

Article 45
Freedom of movement and of residence

1. Every citizen of the Union has the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

2. Freedom of movement and residence may be granted, in accordance with the Treaties, to nationals of third countries legally resident in the territory of a Member State.

Pilgrim’s Progress

Since the theme of free movement of persons (workers) and EU citizenship is played on four blogs and in three languages, here is a record of the latest stages.

EU citizenship: Slow and uneven progress on free movement (10 November 2010) looked at the report from the Commission COM(2008) 840 on the application of Directive 2004/38/EC.

European Parliament supports EU expats (10 November2010) presented two EP resolutions concerning EU citizenship.

The two latest blog posts may pose more of a challenge for international readers. However, machine translation (Google Translate) may be helpful enough. A little assistance to decipher the sources, as well.

Unionsmedborgarskapet: EU-kommissionen aktiverade sig synligt (11 November 2010; in Swedish) looked at the well documented guidance on transposition and application of Directive 2004/38/EC given by the European Commission in COM(2009) 313.


EU-kansalaisten liikkumis- ja oleskeluvapaus Tukholman ohjelmassa (12 November 2010; in Finnish) went on to look at the Stockholm Programme – An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens, especially Section 2.2. Full exercise of the right of free movement. (The “canonised” version of the Stockholm Programme in all EU languages was finally published OJEU 4.5.2010 C 115/1.)

The heads of state or government (European Council) seemed to be as keen to crack down on abuse and fraud as they were to guarantee the right of free movement by removing obstacles (pages 8-9).


Stockholm Programme Action Plan

After these sundry notes, the next logical steps for this pilgrim would seem to go towards the Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme – a stage perhaps less straightforward than one would expect.



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Linking England and the Continent like the Channel Tunnel, with the publishing prestige of The Economist and with the advantage of being written in English, Charlemagne’s notebook is one of the “must read” Euroblogs (among the 697 already aggregated by Bloggingportal.eu). Naturally Charlemagne’s notebook is found among Fleishman-Hillard’s selection of Euroblogs.

EU Lisbon Treaty into force 1 December 2009

The Lisbon Treaty enters into force Tuesday, 1 December 2009. The consolidated (readable and updated ) versions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), were published in the Official Journal of the European Union 9 May 2008 (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115), and they are available in 23 treaty languages.



The EU Charter was declared politically binding on the EU institutions in December 2000 in Nice, but it becomes legally binding when the Lisbon Treaty enters into force: The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the explanations relating to it, were published OJEU 14 December 2007 C 303.

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For EU citizens the world will look pretty much the same after tomorrow morning, but in the areas where the European Parliament gains more equal powers as a law-maker the procedures will become a bit more open for the public.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page, or concentrate on the editors’ choices on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

Vaclav Klaus reversing Orwell

Since the EUSSR is a favourite dystopian expression for the European Union among supporters of Czech president Vaclav Klaus, let us take a look through the prism of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”.



We already know that during the negotiations leading to the Lisbon Treaty, the United Kingdom and Poland negotiated exemptions from the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union.

The EU Charter does not create new rights, but makes existing ones from various sources more visible.

Thus, the UK and Polish exemptions carry little legal weight, but they are powerful political statements from governments vary of rights for their residents.

In addition, Protocol (No 30) tells us that Britain and Poland want to stay on the fringes of the EU community of values.

More than two years after the negotiations started, with the Lisbon Treaty already democratically approved in all 27 EU member states, Czech president Vaclav Klaus has surprised his country’s government and everyone else, by demanding a similar exemption.

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Equality?

All EU citizens are equal, but some EU citizens are less equal than others, seems to be the motto of president Klaus.

He wants his citizens to join the less equal on the outskirts of the community of values.



He explains his sudden demand with imagined fears, although the Czech Constitutional Court has declared that the EU Charter is compatible with the Czech Constitution.

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True reasons?

If Klaus’ reasoning is false, it raises the question of his true motives.


If you read the latest EurActiv story and the fresh EUobserver article on how Klaus’ aide Ladislav Jakl has presented the ultimatum, there is little evidence of any will to solve the stated problem.


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In between



The Czech government, caught unawares, sits uncomfortably between Klaus’ political blackmail and its will to secure the last ratification before the end of the year.

Czech Happenings reports that the government wants to negotiate with the president’s office and the European Union, but it also wants guarantees that Klaus is not going to throw new spanners into the works.


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I feel sorry for Prime Minister Jan Fischer and his government.



Ralf Grahn

EU Lisbon Treaty: Czech constitutional crisis

More than two years after the beginning of the negotiations on the EU Lisbon Treaty, President Vaclav Klaus has suddenly repudiated the Czech government and parliament, by demanding an exemption from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.



Klaus’ 10 October 2009 statement refers to only one concrete fear – property which belonged to ethnic Germans expelled after WW2 – but his reference to Britain and Poland indicates that he desires a total opt-out from the Charter.

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British and Polish opt-out

The United Kingdom and Poland negotiated an opt-out from the EU Charter. It is enshrined in Protocol (No 30) attached to the Lisbon Treaty, and these are treaty level provisions.

By this disgraceful act, these countries manifested their lack of commitment to the fundamental rights of EU citizens.

The indignities committed during and after the Second World War have seemingly now started to haunt President to such an extent that he wants to scrap the whole Charter with regard to Czech nationals.

A change in this respect would require treaty level change and approval by all member states, including ratification.

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Czech constitutional crisis

The Czech Republic is already in a state of political crisis, with a caretaker government.

President Klaus has been elected by the parliament. His refusal to sign the ratification instrument has been a simmering constitutional crisis, which is now in the hands of the Czech Constitutional Court.

An acute constitutional crisis sprung from President Klaus’ sudden, but unspecified new demands yesterday. Today he has given them more exact contents, which widely overshoot the cause he mentions.

In short, President Klaus rejects the Lisbon Treaty as negotiated by the EU member states, including the Czech government. He repudiates the Lisbon Treaty, as approved by the Czech parliament.

The government and the parliament have seemingly been unaware of President Klaus’ designs. The Czech constitutional system is now in a state of deep crisis.

What are the government and the parliament going to do, at a time when the whole European Union impatiently waits to get the Lisbon Treaty into force and the EU institutions up and running?

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EU member states

The EU member states, guided by the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council, are now in the unenviable position to try to find out what the Czech Republic wants.

Although President Klaus holds the pen for the signature, which should be a formality, he has but expressed an opinion.

The EU member states expect that the government communicates the views and the intended actions of the Czech Republic.

The fat lady hasn’t sung yet.


Ralf Grahn

Consolidated EU Treaty of Lisbon

The consolidated Lisbon Treaty means that the amendments agreed by all the EU member states in December 2007 have been incorporated into the existing EU and EC Treaties.

We can read the amended treaties as they look, if the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.


Official Journal

The text is available in English and Gaelic as well as the other official EU languages on a number of web sites, following its publication on 9 May 2008 in the Official Journal of the European Union C 115.

Here is the English version of the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, officially Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.



You can access the desired language version by clicking on the abbreviation (above, right).

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EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was published in the Official Journal on 14 December 2007 together with its explanations.



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General explanations

The Government of Ireland has published a 2009 White Paper on the Lisbon Treaty, which explains the changes between the existing treaties and the amending treaty (129 pages). The document can be downloaded as a whole or in parts.




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European Movement Ireland (EMI)

Mentioned in a blog post yesterday, the Lisbon fact sheets of the European Movement Ireland cover much of the same issues as the general information by the Government of Ireland, but they address questions and concerns separately under clearly visible headlines, making it easier to find the answer when you have a specific question in mind.



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Positive mood

The latest opinion polls tell us that the mood in Ireland ahead of the Lisbon 2009 referendum is more optimistic and confident. The information efforts may have contributed to this positive shift, but there is still time to catch up, if you are unsure.


Ralf Grahn

Magna Carta or EU Charter?

Recently I encountered yet another one of those anti-EU campaigners who prefer their ’ancient rights and freedoms’ to the existence of the European Union. The Magna Carta (1215) seems to be a favourite reference.

Is their belief based on a myth or on rational thought?

I invite readers to make a comparison.

Read the text of the Magna Carta in an English translation, available here with an introductory note:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.html

Then turn to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, published in the Official Journal of the European Union 14.12.2007 C 303/1.

After reading both, make your informed decision. Which Charter do you opt for and why?



Ralf Grahn

Human Rights: UK exceptionalism

The Joint Committee on Human Rights of the House of Lords and the House of Commons has published a report called ’A Bill of Rights for the UK? Twenty-ninth Report of Session 2007–08’ (HL Paper 165-I, HC 150-I; published 10 August 2008):

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt200708/jtselect/jtrights/165/165i.pdf

The report outlines a future UK Bill of Rights.

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Browsing the report, you would have to be a genius to detect that the United Kingdom is a member state of the European Union, or that its government has politically signed up to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7 December 2000, or that the United Kingdom has ratified the Treaty of Lisbon, or taken the trouble to opt out of the Charter, as adapted on 12 December 2007.

I have no desire to deprive UK residents of modern human rights protection, but even by British standards the presentation seems to reach new heights of tunnel vision.


Ralf Grahn

Reader-friendly Treaty of Lisbon

Finally the cause for consolidated versions of the EU Reform Treaty or Treaty of Lisbon seems to make headway.

At a joint meeting for members of 27 EU national parliaments and of the European Parliament, Jo Leinen, chairman of the EP Constitutional Affairs Committee, stressed the need for a proper communication policy to explain the content and the objectives of the reform to the public. He called for a reader-friendly version of the over-complex Reform Treaty.

Jean-Luc Dehaene said that it is necessary that citizens are fully involved regardless of the ratification procedure chosen by each Member State.

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The French National Assembly has published a 281 page report by its Foreign Affairs Committee, with consolidated versions on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union. This consolidated Treaty in French is based on the 18 October 2007 version; thus, some linguistic modifications may have been made in the final treaty texts which have been posted on the IGC 2007 web site of the Council.

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In accordance with the principle of equality of the citizens of the Union (Treaty of Lisbon, Article 8) more readable, user-friendly consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon should be published instantly by one of the institutions of the European Union in all the official languages of the EU and distributed widely in collaboration with the Member States.

The same procedure should be applied to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including (the languages of) the countries whose leaders have chosen to opt out. Citizens should be treated equally by the EU institutions.


Ralf Grahn


Sources:

National parliaments’ role in EU affairs improved by new Treaty; European Parliament News, 4 December 2007; http://www.europalr.europa.eu

Assemblée nationale : Rapport d’information sur les modifications apportées par le traité de Lisbonne au traité sur l’Union européenne et au traité instituant la Communauté européenne, par M. Axel Poniatowski ; No 439, 28 novembre 2007 ;
http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/pdf/rap-info/i0439.pdf