EU fundamental rights: A source of special significance for the European Court of Human RightsPhD student: Mr V. Davio
Promotor: Mrs Dr E. Muir
Duration: 1/9/2020 - 31/8/2024
PhD defence: Leuven, 7/2/2025
Abstract:
The protection of fundamental rights in Europe has undergone a profound shift in recent years. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the rebuilding of Europe has developed on the basis of a two-pillar system. The Council of Europe was entrusted with the protection of individual and fundamental rights, whereas economic integration was pursued through what has become the EU. The latter is now taking the lead in setting fundamental rights standards. Fundamental rights are no longer merely a limit, imposed from the outside, on the action of the EU institutions and the Member States when they act within the scope of EU law. Indeed, the EU political institutions are increasingly spelling out the content and scope of fundamental rights in a wide variety of areas. For instance, in the early 2000s, the EU has adopted the Race Directive and the General Framework Directive in the field of non-discrimination law and, more recently, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the field of data protection law. The process by which the EU legislator sets fundamental rights standards has far-reaching implications, although the phenomenon has received only limited academic attention. In particular, the impact of EU legislation which gives expression to fundamental rights on the approach of the Council of Europe has not yet been subject to investigation. This is regrettable, as the existence of political guidance, adopted by the EU legislator, on the content and boundaries of fundamental rights, is most likely to influence the shape of the relevant rights at the Council of Europe. In light of this, the research aims to analyse and critically evaluate the influence of EU legislation giving expression to fundamental rights on the definition of the corresponding rights by the European Court of Human Rights.
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