The Czech Republic and its opt-out from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

In an analysis from the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Helena Bončková and Hubert Smekal prove that the recently negotiated opt-out from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights does not have to include the cases from which it was supposed to protect us. More precisely – the problem, to which the exception is allegedly reacting to, probably does not exist.

The argumentation is based on the legal analysis of the text of Protocol number 30 (Poland and the UK’s opt-out from the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights), on the debate that took place in the countries of the opt-out, on a short discussion into the decision making of the European Court of Human Rights and on the assessment of the after-Lisbon's jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The analysis showcases all of the negative accompanying phenomenon which lined the Czech path to the opt-out and also the alternatives of future development. You can read the analysis here.