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EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Article 51 - Field of application

Article 51 - Field of application

1. The provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions, bodies, offices and agencies of the Union with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing Union law. They shall therefore respect the rights, observe the principles and promote the application thereof in accordance with their respective powers and respecting the limits of the powers of the Union as conferred on it in the Treaties.
2. The Charter does not extend the field of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union or establish any new power or task for the Union, or modify powers and tasks as defined in the Treaties.

    • Text:

      The aim of Article 51 is to determine the scope of the Charter. It seeks to establish clearly that the Charter applies primarily to the institutions and bodies of the Union, in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity. This provision was drafted in keeping with Article 6(2) of the Treaty on European Union, which required the Union to respect fundamental rights, and with the mandate issued by the Cologne European Council. The term ‘institutions’ is enshrined in the Treaties. The expression ‘bodies, offices and agencies’ is commonly used in the Treaties to refer to all the authorities set up by the Treaties or by secondary legislation (see, e.g., Articles 15 or 16 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).

      As regards the Member States, it follows unambiguously from the case-law of the Court of Justice that the requirement to respect fundamental rights defined in the context of the Union is only binding on the Member States when they act in the scope of Union law (judgment of 13 July 1989, Case 5/88 Wachauf [1989] ECR 2609; judgment of 18 June 1991, Case C-260/89 ERT [1991] ECR I-2925; judgment of 18 December 1997, Case C-309/96 Annibaldi [1997] ECR I-7493). The Court of Justice confirmed this case-law in the following terms: ‘In addition, it should be remembered that the requirements flowing from the protection of fundamental rights in the Community legal order are also binding on Member States when they implement Community rules ...’ (judgment of 13 April 2000, Case C-292/97 [2000] ECR I-2737, paragraph 37 of the grounds). Of course this rule, as enshrined in this Charter, applies to the central authorities as well as to regional or local bodies, and to public organisations, when they are implementing Union law.

      Paragraph 2, together with the second sentence of paragraph 1, confirms that the Charter may not have the effect of extending the competences and tasks which the Treaties confer on the Union. Explicit mention is made here of the logical consequences of the principle of subsidiarity and of the fact that the Union only has those powers which have been conferred upon it. The fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Union do not have any effect other than in the context of the powers determined by the Treaties. Consequently, an obligation, pursuant to the second sentence of paragraph 1, for the Union's institutions to promote principles laid down in the Charter may arise only within the limits of these same powers.

      Paragraph 2 also confirms that the Charter may not have the effect of extending the field of application of Union law beyond the powers of the Union as established in the Treaties. The Court of Justice has already established this rule with respect to the fundamental rights recognised as part of Union law (judgment of 17 February 1998, C-249/96 Grant [1998] ECR I-621, paragraph 45 of the grounds). In accordance with this rule, it goes without saying that the reference to the Charter in Article 6 of the Treaty on European Union cannot be understood as extending by itself the range of Member State action considered to be ‘implementation of Union law’ (within the meaning of paragraph 1 and the above-mentioned case-law).

      Source:
      Official Journal of the European Union C 303/17 - 14.12.2007
      Preamble - Explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights:
      These explanations were originally prepared under the authority of the Praesidium of the Convention which drafted the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Although they do not as such have the status of law, they are a valuable tool of interpretation intended to clarify the provisions of the Charter.
    • European Commission v Hungary
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Grand Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2026:108
    • Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó and Others v European Parliament
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Third Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2026:70
    • Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan v Wojewoda Mazowiecki
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Grand Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:917
    • Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan v Wojewoda Mazowiecki
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:917
    • Kingdom of Denmark v European Parliament and Council of the European Union
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Grand Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:865
    • Braila Winds SRL v DGRFP București - Administrația Fiscală pentru Contribuabili Mijlocii București and Others
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Ninth Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:799
    • PROFIL-COPY 2002 Irodatechnikai Kft. v Közigazgatási és Területfejlesztési Minisztérium
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Court (Seventh Chamber)
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:795
    • AR v Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:653
    • Dimnev
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:595
    • T.T. and BAJI Trans, s.r. o. v Národný inšpektorát práce
      Decision date:
      Deciding body type:
      Court of Justice of the European Union
      Deciding body:
      Type:
      Decision
      Policy area:
      ECLI (European case law identifier):
      ECLI:EU:C:2025:614

    4 results found

    • Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
      Country:
      Croatia
    • De Belgische Grondwet
      Country:
      Belgium

      Artikel 191. Iedere vreemdeling die zich op het grondgebied van België bevindt, geniet de bescherming verleend aan personen en aan goederen, behoudens de bij de wet gestelde uitzonderingen.

    • La Constitution Belge
      Country:
      Belgium

      Article 191; Tout étranger qui se trouve sur le territoire de la Belgique jouit de la protection accordée aux personnes et aux biens, sauf les exceptions établies par la loi

    • The Belgian Constitution
      Country:
      Belgium

      Article 191. All foreigners on Belgian soil benefit from the protection provided to persons andproperty, except for those exceptions provided for by the law.

    3 results found

    0 results found

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      19
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      DA, ET, FI, LT, PT, SV versions now available
      30 July 2024
      The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU) is the EU’s bill of rights. It always binds the EU institutions and the Member States when they act within the scope of EU law. However, it is far from easy to assess whether a concrete case falls within the scope of EU law. This is why it is necessary to provide training and training material to legal professionals so that they can understand the field of application of the Charter as laid out in its Article 51. This trainer’s manual aims at providing guidance on both the organisation and the implementation of such trainings based on a series of case studies,
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      October
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      10
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