A seminar of a working group with 15 participants was held about the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to coincide with the ACA-Europe Board meeting. A questionnaire which had been drawn up and sent to the participants was used as a basis by the Council of State of the Netherlands for a draft general report. This report served as the starting point for a very constructive exchange of views about the items on the agenda. The following issues were discussed: the scope of the Charter, introduced by EUCJ judge Thomas Von Danwitz, with a response from Director-General of the European Commission's Legal Service Luis Romero Requena; rights and principles, introduced by Supreme Court of Spain judge Luis María Diez-Picazo and Supreme Administrative Court of Finland judge Dr Alice Guimaraes, with a response being given by EUCJ judge Sacha Prechal; the relationship between the Charter and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), introduced by Supreme Administrative Court of Poland judge Jacek Chlebny and 'Maître des Requêtes' at the French Council of State Suzanne von Coester, with a response from European Court of Human Rights Section President Dean Spielmann.
The aim of these discussions was to lay the foundations for the organization of the colloquium on 18 June 2012 by the Supreme Court of Spain at the end of its presidency of ACA-Europe which it has held since halfway through 2010.
To aim this goal the Council of state of The Netherlands made a general report based on the national reports and the exchange of views the participants had in the working group.
The meeting was chaired by Mrs Sevenster, Councillor of State at the Council of State of the Netherlands (center of the photo with on her left Mr Diez-Picazo, general reporter of the 2012 Colloquium in Madrid and on her right Mr Von Danwitz, judge at the EUCJ and Mr Romero Requena, Director-General of the European Commission's Legal Service).
All contributions will be accessible via the ACA-Europe website (section colloquia/Seminars).
