Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (2009) - Effective implementation after the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon

This Operational Guidance on Fundamental Rights is one of the initiatives envisaged in the Strategy for the effective implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights by the European Union (‘the Charter Strategy’) adopted by the Commission on 19 October 2010. The objective of the Charter Strategy is to make the fundamental rights set out in the Charter as effective as possible and to ensure that the EU’s approach to legislation is exemplary.

In outlining the Charter Strategy, the Commission explained how it would reinforce the assessment of impacts which its legislative proposals may have on fundamental rights.

It announced, in particular, its intention to provide guidance to its departments on how the impacts on fundamental rights should be assessed in practice. This guidance is also part of the Commission policy to promote Smart Regulation in the European Union (see also INI/2011/2029). In its Smart Regulation Communication the Commission announced that to reflect the new legal status of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Commission would reinforce the assessment of impacts on fundamental rights, and would develop specific guidance on this.