Glossary · Rule layers and human rights
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Also known as: EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU Charter, CFR
German: Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is the EU's catalogue of fundamental rights — dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights and justice — which has had the same legal value as the EU treaties since December 1, 2009 and binds the EU institutions and the member states when they implement Union law.
- AI regulation
- EU
In one sentence
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights binds EU bodies and member states when they implement EU law, such as the AI Act. It is primary law, not a constitution.
Example
The AI Act names the protection of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter as one of its purposes; a deployer's fundamental rights impact assessment under Article 27 is an obligation of the AI Act, not of the Charter itself.
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Rank: Article 6(1) TEU gives the Charter the same legal value as the treaties, so it is EU primary law. It is not a constitution: the EU has none.
- Addressees: Under Article 51(1), the Charter applies to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union and to the member states only when they are implementing Union law. It does not extend the EU's competences. Companies are bound by the Union law that gives effect to it — for AI above all the EU AI Act, the GDPR and the Digital Services Act.
- In the AI Act: The Act refers to the Charter's rights in its purpose (Article 1), in the classification of high-risk systems and in the fundamental rights impact assessment required of certain deployers.
- Not the ECHR: The European Convention on Human Rights is a treaty of the Council of Europe, a separate organization with 46 member states. Where Charter rights correspond to Convention rights, Article 52(3) gives them the same meaning and scope.
- Dignity: Article 1 (“Human dignity is inviolable”) concerns human beings. No provision of the Charter assigns rights to AI systems.