The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is a document enshrining certain fundamental rights. The rights charter bans e.g. capital punishment and eugenics.

The wording of the document has been agreed at ministerial level and was incorporated into the draft Constitution for Europe, and later the Lisbon Treaty. The Charter has the force of law effective from December 1 2009.

Its preamble reads:

‘The peoples of Europe, in creating an ever closer union among them, are resolved to share a peaceful future based on common values.

Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.

The Union contributes to the preservation and to the development of these common values while respecting the diversity of the cultures and traditions of the peoples of Europe as well as the national identities of the Member States and the organisation of their public authorities at national, regional and local levels; it seeks to promote balanced and sustainable development and ensures free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and the freedom of establishment.

To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights in the light of changes in society, social progress and scientific and technological developments by making those rights more visible in a Charter.

This Charter reaffirms, with due regard for the powers and tasks of the Community and the Union and the principle of subsidiarity, the rights as they result, in particular, from the constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the Member States, the Treaty on European Union, the Community Treaties, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Social Charters adopted by the Community and by the Council of Europe and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities and of the European Court of Human Rights.

Enjoyment of these rights entails responsibilities and duties with regard to other persons, to the human community and to future generations.

The Union therefore recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out hereafter.’

The Charter is organized into 6 titles: dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizens’ rights, and justice. The second, third, and fourth rubrics reflect the three generations of human rights after Karel Vasak.

• (Article 3) Prohibition of reproductive cloning of human beings
• (Article 53) ‘Nothing in this Charter shall be interpreted as restricting or adversely affecting human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognised, in their respective fields of application, by Union law and international law and by international agreements to which the Union, the Community or all the Member States are party, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and by the Member States' constitutions.’

The fifty-five articles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights list political, social and economic rights for EU citizens. It is intended to make sure that European Union regulations and directives do not contradict the European Convention on Human Rights which is ratified by all EU Member States (and to which the EU as a whole would accede under the Treaty of Lisbon). In the rejected EU Constitution it was integrated into the text of the treaty and was legally binding. The UK, as one of the two countries with a common law legal system in the EU, and a largely uncodified Constitution, was against making it legally binding over domestic law. The suggestion by the German presidency that a single reference to it with a single article in the amended treaties, maintaining that it should be legally binding, was implemented. Nevertheless, in an attached protocol, Poland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom have opt-outs from these provisions of the treaty. Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union elevates the Charter to the same legal value as the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

 

11. Write the annotation of the following article.

Хартія фундаментальних прав ЄС стала офіційним документом

Європарламент схвалив Хартію фундаментальних прав Європейського Союзу. Відповідне рішення було ухвалено на засіданні Європарламенту. "За" проголосували 534 депутати, "проти" – 85, утрималися – 21, повідомляє УНІАН.

Офіційна церемонія проголошення Хартії відбулася у Європарламенті 12 грудня 2007. Вона є одним з базових документів для Угоди реформ, яка стала заміною Конституції ЄС і була підписана 13 грудня в Лісабоні.

Хартія визначає фундаментальні права людини в ЄС, такі як право на життя (включно з забороною смертної кари), право на цілісність особи (включно з забороною на селекцію людей та клонування).

Хартія також забороняє тортури, рабство, примушування до праці, торгівлю людьми.

В сфері свобод документ встановлює такі права, як право на свободу та безпеку, право на повагу до особистого і сімейного життя, право на захист персональних даних, право одружуватися і створювати родини, право на свободу думок та сповідування релігії, право на свободу висловлювання та інформацію, право на свободу зібрань, право на свободу науки та мистецтв, право на освіту, право на вибір професії та роботи, право на ведення бізнесу, право на власність, право на притулок, право на захист у випадку переміщення чи екстрадиції.

У Хартії також проголошується рівність усіх перед законом, заборона дискримінації, рівність між чоловіками та жінками, культурна, релігійна та мовна різноманітність. Документ визнає права дітей та осіб похилого віку, права на інтеграцію до суспільства осіб з фізичними чи іншими обмеженнями.

В Хартії встановлені права працівників на отримання інформації, на протести, на захист у випадку необґрунтованого звільнення та чесні умови праці. Крім того, встановлені права на охорону здоров’я та захист навколишнього природного середовища, визначені громадянські права.

В документі також визначається, що будь-який громадянин Європи у випадку порушення його прав може звернутися до Європейського Омбудсмена.

Хартії дає право громадянам ЄС оскаржувати порушення своїх прав не лише проти національних урядів, а й проти європейських керівних органів в Європейському суді в Люксембургу.

Великобританія в ході переговорів про нову Угоду ЄС добилася права не застосовувати на своїй території положення Хартії фундаментальних прав. Прем’єр-міністр Польщі також отримав таке право для своєї країни.

 

 

Unit 8

Vocabulary Section

The Council of Europe

Pre-reading task. Read the words. Mind the stress. A):

΄platform con΄ventional,Medite΄rranean

΄transfer trans΄fer,Monte΄negro

΄combat con΄centric,Mace΄donia

΄hazard where΄as,Lithu΄ania

΄partial com΄pliance,pharmaco ΄ poeia

΄quality a΄ccredit,parliamen΄tarian

΄emphasis di΄rectorate,multi΄lateral

΄standard in΄tolerance,abo΄lition

΄statutory ac΄cession,multi΄lateral

 

B) Complete the word building table.

NounorVerb Adjective	Noun Verb
pharmaceutical	compliance
to combat	transition
emphasis	abuse
intolerance	emphasis
secretariat	intolerance
conventional	abolition
to enforce	to transfer
quality	to enforce
Belgium	to sign
Denmark	observatory
Ireland	distribution
Sweden	to maintain
Portugal	achievement

C)

Noun Noun	Noun Noun
traffic	serf
brother	member
man	widow
limit	mother
slave	child

1. Look through the following words to make sure that you know them, learn those you don’t.

conventional[kən΄ven∫(ə)n(ə)l]   conventional arms transfer What they saw was a conventional imitation of philosophy.	визначений договором чи угодою; звичайний, традиційний; умовний; звичайна передача зброї; Те, що вони побачили, було звичайною імітацією філософії.
pharmacopoeia [,fa:məkə΄piə]	фармакопея
transition[træn΄siЗ(ə)n] presidential transition	перехід, переміщення; перехід, передача президентської влади;
to transfer [træns΄fə:] transfer to another department	переходити, переводити(ся); переходити до іншого відділу;
to commit to commit oneself	ввіряти, доручати; довіряти; приймати на себе зобов’язання; зв’язувати себе;
i.e. (= id est)	тобто
whereas [weə΄æz]	оскільки; не дивлячись на; беручи до уваги;
concentric [kən΄sentrik]	концентричний;
compliance [kəm΄plaiəns] law compliance compliance with requirements in compliance with	відповідність; виконання; дотримання; дотримання закону; відповідність вимогам; у відповідності з; виконуючи щось;
accredit [ə΄kredit] He was accredited to Lisbon.	уповноважувати; акредитувати; Він був акредитований до Лісабону.
parliamentarian[,pa:ləmen΄teəriən]	член парламенту, парламентарій
directorate[di΄rekt(ə)rət] / [dai΄rekt(ə)rət]	дирекція, правління; директорат;
quality[΄kwoliti] quantity and quality excellent, superior quality low, poor quality quality control quality of proof	якість; кількість та якісь; відмінна якість; низька якість; контроль за якістю; критерій доведення;
observatory [əb΄zə:vətri]	спостережний пункт, спостережний майданчик; обсерваторія;
to combat [΄kombæt] to combat with/against to combat the enemy to combat errors	боротися, вести бій; боротися з; боротися з ворогом; боротися з помилками;
abuse [ə΄bju:s] abuse of children (child abuse) abuse of power drug abuse	погане, жорстоке поводження; зловживання; жорстоке поводження з дітьми; зловживання владою; зловживання ліками / наркотиками;
hazard [΄hæzəd] hazard to public health hazards of smoking take hazards hazard to life occupational hazard	ризик, небезпека; загроза здоров’ю людей; небезпека куріння; йти на ризик; небезпека для життя; професійний ризик;
distribution [distri΄bju: ∫(ə)n] commodity distribution distribution of justice distribution of power distribution centre distribution channel	розповсюдження, доставка; роздача; розподіл; товарообіг; відправлення правосуддя; розподіл влади; оптова база; канал розповсюдження;
trafficking   human trafficking drugs trafficking	торгівля забороненими товарами (наркотиками, зброєю); торгівля людьми; торгівля наркотиками;
enlarged enlarged meeting revised and enlarged edition	розширений, збільшений; ліберальний; звільнений; розширене засідання; змінене та доповнене видання;
partial[΄pa: ∫(ə)i] a partial solution of the problem It is inconsistent with justice to be partial.	частковий, неповний; упереджений; часткове вирішення проблеми; Суддя не може бути упередженим.
accession [æk΄se∫(ə)n] accession to Europe under the Maastricht treaty	вступ; вхід, доступ; вступ до Європейського співтовариства у рамках Маастрихтської угоди;
multilateral [,malti΄læt(ə)r(ə)l] multilateral agreement multilateral arrangement multilateral connections	багатосторонній; багатостороння угода; багатостороння домовленість; багатосторонні зв’язки;
awareness legal awareness	знання, поінформованість; усвідомлення, розуміння; правосвідомість;
abolition [,æbəu΄li∫(ə)n] abolition of serfdom abolition of capital punishment the Abolition day	відміна, скасування, анулювання; відміна кріпацтва; скасування смертної кари; День скасування рабства;
intolerance [in΄tol(ə)r(ə)ns] religious intolerance racial intolerance	нетерпимість; релігійна нетерпимість; расова нетерпимість;

2. Read and translate the text.

The Council of Europe

The Council of Europe, the oldest international organisation working towards European integration, was founded in 1949. It has a particular emphasis on legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. It has 47 member states with some 800 million citizens.

Its statutory institutions are the Committee of Ministers comprising the foreign ministers of each member state, the Parliamentary Assembly composed of MPs from the Parliament of each member state, and the Secretary General heading the secretariat of the Council of Europe.

The most famous conventional bodies of the Council of Europe are the European Court of Human Rights, which enforces the European Convention on Human Rights, and the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, which sets the quality standards for pharmaceutical products in Europe. The Council of Europe's work has resulted in standards, charters and conventions to facilitate cooperation between European countries and further integration.

The seat of the Council of Europe is in Strasbourg, France with English and French as its two official languages. The Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress also use German, Italian and Russian for some of their work.

The Council of Europe was founded on 5 May 1949 by the Treaty of London. The Treaty of London or the Statute of the Council of Europe was signed in London on that day by ten states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Many states followed, especially after the democratic transitions in central and eastern Europe during the early 1990s, and the Council of Europe now includes all European states except Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Article 1(a) of the Statute states that "The aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social progress." Therefore, membership is open to all European states which seek European integration, accept the principle of the rule of law and are able and willing to guarantee democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms.

While the member states of the European Union transfer national legislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the European Parliament in specific areas under European Community law, Council of Europe member states maintain their sovereignty but commit themselves through conventions (i.e. public international law) and co-operate on the basis of common values and common political decisions. Those conventions and decisions are developed by the member states working together at the Council of Europe, whereas secondary European Community law is set by the organs of the European Union. Both organisations function as concentric circles around the common foundations for European integration, with the Council of Europe being the geographically wider circle. The European Union could be seen as the smaller circle with a much higher level of integration through the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level. Being part of public international law, Council of Europe conventions could also be opened for signature to non-member states thus facilitating equal co-operation with countries outside Europe.

The Council of Europe's most famous achievement is the European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950 following a report by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. The Convention created the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court supervises compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and thus functions as the highest European court for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is to this court that Europeans can bring cases if they believe that a member country has violated their fundamental rights.

The institutions of the Council of Europe are:

· The Secretary General, who is elected for a term of five years by the Parliamentary Assembly and heads the Secretariat of the Council of Europe.

· The Committee of Ministers, comprising the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of all 47 member states who are represented by their Permanent Representatives and Ambassadors accredited to the Council of Europe.

· The Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), which comprises national parliamentarians from all member states and elects its President for a year with the possibility of being re-elected for another year.

· The Congress of the Council of Europe (Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe), which was created in 1994 and comprises political representatives from local and regional authorities in all member states.

· The European Court of Human Rights, created under the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950, is composed of a judge from each member state elected for a renewable term of six years by the Parliamentary Assembly and is headed by the elected President of the Court.

· The Commissioner for Human Rights, who is elected by the Parliamentary Assembly for a non-renewable term of six years since the creation of this position in 1999.

The COE system also includes a number of semi-autonomous structures known as "Partial Agreements", some of which are also open to non-member states:

· The Council of Europe Development Bank in Paris

· The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines with its European Pharmacopoeia

· The European Audiovisual Observatory

· The European Support Fund Eurimages for the co-production and distribution of films.

· The Pompidou Group - Cooperation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Drugs

· The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice [΄venis] Commission

· The Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO)

· The European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA) which is a platform for co-operation between European and Southern Mediterranean [,medit(ə)΄reiniən] countries in the field of major natural and technological disasters.

· The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, which is open to accession by states and sport associations.

· The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe in Lisbon [΄lizbən](Portugal [΄po:tjug(ə)l])

· The Centre for Modern Languages is in Graz (Austria)

Most joint programmes are country-specific. They cover Albania (since 1993), Ukraine (since 1995), the Russian Federation (since 1996), Moldova (since 1997), Georgia (since 1999), Serbia [΄sə:biə], Montenegro [,monti΄ni:grəu] (Чорногорія), Armenia, and Azerbaijan (since 2001), Turkey (since 2001), Bosnia and Herzegovina (since 2003) and also the Republic of Macedonia [,mæsi΄dəuniə]. Other Joint Programmes, for instance for the Baltic [΄bo:ltik] States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) were also implemented in the past. There have also been multilateral thematic joint programmes, open to Central and Eastern European countries, regarding, for instance, national minorities, the fight against organised crime and corruption, and the development of independent ethics committees for review of biomedical research. There have been other multilateral joint programmes, for awareness-raising on the abolition of the death penalty, the preparation of the European conference to fight against racism and intolerance, action to promote the European Social Charter and a programme to strengthen democracy and constitutional development in central and eastern Europe with the Council of Europe's Venice Commission.

3. Give the Ukrainian equivalents to the following words and phrases.

to work towards European integration; the rule of law; further integration; democratic transitions; to achieve a greater unity between its members; to facilitate economic and social progress; to be able and willing to guarantee democracy; to transfer national legislative and executive powers to the European Commission and the European Parliament; the common foundations for European integration; the transfer of powers from the national to the EU level; to bring cases; Ambassadors accredited to the Council of Europe; major natural and technological disasters; multilateral thematic joint programmes; awareness-raising; to fight against racism and intolerance

4. Find the English equivalents to the following words and phrases.

особливий наголос на правових нормах; очолювати секретаріат Ради Європи; встановлювати стандарти якості для фармацевтичних товарів; сприяти співробітництву між Європейськими країнами; з метою захисту та втілення ідеалів та принципів; спільна спадщина; прагнути європейської інтеграції; приймати принцип верховенства права; братии на себе зобов’язання через угоди; співпрацювати на основі спільних цінностей та спільних політичних рішень; Європейська конвенція з прав людини; наглядати за дотриманням Європейської конвенції; порушувати їх основні права; міністр закордонних справ; напівавтономні структури; відкритий до вступу; національні меншини; боротьба з організованою злочинністю; скасування смертної кари; зміцнювати демократію та конституційний розвиток

5. Match the definition in the right column to the word in the left.

1. hazard	a. to fight, struggle or contest;
2. distribution	b. using to bad effect or for a bad purpose; maltreatment or assault of a person;
3. partial	c. to pledge, involve or bind (esp. oneself) to a certain course or police;
4. abuse	d. the dispersal of goods, esp. among customers, bought by commerce;
5. to combat	e. putting an end to smth; (esp. a custom or institution);
6. quality	f. not complete, forming only part; biased;
7. compliance	g. dealing in something, esp. illegal;
8. to commit	h. a danger or risk;
9. trafficking	i. the degree of excellence of a thing; general excellence;
10. abolition	j. acting in accordance with (wish, order);

 

6. Fill in the gaps with the suitable word. A:

Combat; pharmacopoeia; hazards; quality; conventional; whereas; abuse; compliance; trafficking; accredited; parliamentarians;

1. _________ he had received a very handsome fortune with his wife, he had now spent every penny of it. 2. The President proposed that Russian diplomats could be _________ to NATO headquarters. 3. _____________ obligations are obligations resulting from the special agreement of parties in contradistinction to natural or legal obligations. 4. In general, _________ means conforming to a specification or policy, standard or law that has been clearly defined. 5.____________, in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society. 6. A delegation of British _______________ is expected to visit Tokyo later this month. 7. He is not interested in _______, all he cares about is making money. 8. __________ is purposeful violent conflict intended to establish dominance over the opposition. 9. ___________ most commonly refers to the use or treatment of something or someone (a person, item, substance, concept, idea or vocabulary) that is harmful, or the lack of proper care of these. 10. The job was full of ________. 11. The illegal drug ___________ is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of illegal controlled drugs.

B: Fill in the appropriate proposition or adverb where necessary.

1. Students may transfer ____ other colleges. 2. I commit myself ____ your care. 3. Compliance in the USA generally means compliance ____ laws and regulations. 4. Our envoy was accredited ___ their new government. 5. The program is designed to combat ___ the trafficking ___ children. 6. Traffic ___ illicit drugs was now worth some 500 thousand million dollars a year. 6. The Council of Europe puts a particular emphasis ___ legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. 7. Its work has resulted ___ conventions to facilitate cooperation ______ European countries. 8. We seek to achieve a greater unity ______ the members ___ the purpose ____ safeguarding and realising the common ideals and principles. 9. The EU member states transfer national legislative and executive powers ___ the European Commission and the European Parliament ___ certain areas ____ European Community law. 10. The member states of the Council of Europe commit themselves ____ conventions and co-operate ___ the basis ___ common values and common political decisions.

7. Answer the questions.

1. When, where and why was the Council of Europe founded?2. What issues are particularly emphasized by the Council of Europe? 3. What are its statutory institutions? 4. What are the most famous conventional bodies of the Council of Europe? 5. What are the results of the Council of Europe's work? 6. Where is the seat of the Council of Europe? 7. What is the aim of the Council of Europe under its Statute? 8. Who seeks European integration? 9. What is the difference between the member states of the European Union and members of the Council of Europe? 10. What is the most famous achievement of the Council of Europe?

8. Translate into English.

Рада Європи — міжнародна організація 47 держав-членів в європейському просторі.

Членство відкрите для всіх європейських держав, які визнають принцип верховенства закону і гарантують основні права людини і свободи для своїх громадян.

Один з найбільших успіхів Ради це Конвенція про захист прав людини і основоположних свобод 1950 року, яка слугує основою для Європейського суду з прав людини.

Штаб-квартира Ради Європи знаходиться у Страсбурзі на французько-німецькому кордоні. Спочатку засідання Ради відбувалися в Університетському Палаці Страсбургу, сьогодні Рада Європи засідає в Палаці Європи на околицях міського центру.

Раду Європи не слід плутати із Радою Європейської Спільноти чи Європейською Радою, оскільки це — окрема організація і не є частиною Євросоюзу.

Мета Ради Європи — досягти більшої єдності між її членами для захисту та впровадження ідеалів і принципів які є їх спільною спадщиною і сприяння їх економічному та соціальному прогресові.

Головними напрямками роботи Ради є:

· захист демократії і верховенства закону

· захист прав людини, зокрема:

o соціальні права

o лінгвістичні права меншин

· поширення ідей європейської культурної ідентичності і різноманітності;

· вирішення проблем, що з ними стикається європейське суспільство, включаючи дискримінацію, ксенофобію (xenophobia [,zenəu΄fəubiə]), екологічні загрози, СНІД, наркотики та організовану злочинність

· заохочення стабільності демократії шляхом реформ.

 

Unit 9

Vocabulary Section