A new feature on the Gen YES website is guest blogs. If you have an idea for a blog let us know at info@generatioyes.ie.
We’re kicking off with some thoughts on fundamental rights protection from Stephen Spillane, who blogs on all things political and European at stephenspillane.com
The Lisbon Treaty will increase your rights
The Lisbon Treaty will increase your rights. The Lisbon Treaty brings in two things which the EU has to take into account when making new directives and regulations. What are these things? The Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights will bring together all the rights that have come about through EU Laws and judgments. This document will then have the same status as a treaty meaning everything the EU does must reflect it.
Some say that the Charter is worthless, but if it is worthless why is it too much for the Governments of the UK and Poland?
John Monks, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said in a speech to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in July of this year that: “it was a step forward compared to existing provisions, for example in relation to the legal enforcements of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, commitments to full employment, the social market economy and public services.”
The Charter sets out your rights in six sections: Dignity, Freedoms, Equality, Solidarity, Citizens’ Rights, and Justice. Article 2 specifically protects the right to life, so the Charter will not lead to abortion.
The second aspect is that the Lisbon Treaty will allow the EU to sign up to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Ireland is already signed up to this and it has brought about a number of Human Rights for people in Ireland. Having the EU sign up, means that if we think the EU has infringed on our rights we can take them to court. This is an important development for citizens and it means the EU has to be aware of our rights in everything it does.
The EU of course has led to many improvements in Human Rights in this country, in the area of discrimination especially. Equal pay, discrimination in the workplace and other rights protections have been brought in to Ireland thanks to the EU.
So let us keep Human Rights at the core of Europe and Vote Yes on October 2nd.
Blog: http://stephenspillane.com/
The Treaty’s incorporation of the Charter does not have the effect that you suggest. As Irish and as EU citizens, we already have all the rights set out there, and the Treaty does not give a citizen any extra right to “take the EU to court”.
The Treaty would make the Charter and Convention part of EU Law and they would explicitly apply to dealings between the Union’s institutions. That’s a good idea, but it is not a great one, and it hardly qualifies as a sufficient reason to disregard the strong arguments against the Treaty.
There are two articles on my website dealing with the Charter http://short.ie/chr1 and http://short.ie/chr2 which I humbly commend to you. You can also find the other good reasons to vote against the Treaty - as well as some good reasons to vote for it - there. (Yes, some of the bad reasons for and against are discussed, too).
This is an interesting posting, Stephen. Having looked into the particular issue of Workers’ Rights, and in particular the issues surrounding posted workers, and the rights to collective action, I believe that the Lisbon Treaty will actually be beneficial in those areas.
Now it must be noted that I am not a legal expert, but I have read a lot of legal expertise around this, and from what I can see the Lisbon Treaty requires the ECJ to include in its consideration of cases involving Workers’ Rights a lot more legal text concerning the protection of their interests as well as the maintenance of the free market.
Basically, it will allow the ECJ to progress from simply being a regulator instructed to maintain the the most free market possible, to a true arbiter whose job is to balance the interests of the market and its workers, to produce the fairest efficient outcome possible.
This is the kind of pragmatic, yet principled, approach to governance which first interested me in the EU in the first place.
This blog rocks! I gotta say, that I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,
A definite great read.. <a href=”http://wiki.hudson-ci.org/display/~bill-bartmann”
-Bill-Bartmann
I don’t know If I said it already but …Hey good stuff…keep up the good work!
I read a lot of blogs on a daily basis and for the most part, people lack substance but, I just wanted to make a quick comment to say I’m glad I found your blog. Thanks,)
A definite great read..
-Bill-Bartmann