The ramifications of Opinion 2/13 apropos the future of fundamental human rights : a progression or a hindrance towards an effectively controlled compliance?

Abstract

The intended aim of this paper is to provide the reader with a better understanding of what effects Opinion 2/13 of the CJEU has upon the effectively controlled compliance which ought to exist towards the protection of fundamental human rights. By analysing specific areas which the CJEU found to be problematic in nature with regards to the draft agreement presented before it for the accession of the EU to the ECHR, the paper serves to clarify certain issues as well as provide a platform for the reader to decide for himself whether it was of a hindrance or else of a beneficial nature. The paper was divided in three main sections. The first one deals with a brief summary relating to fundamental human rights protection, the two courts presiding over matters of this nature, the history which ought to have made this outcome somewhat expected as well as the main problems which the CJEU found to have defiled the underlying principles of EU law in the draft. The second main section deals with the autonomy of the EU which was the driving factor which led the CJEU to decline the draft, specifically the problem which the draft would have created in the areas of mutual trust, CFSP matters as well as with the interpretation of Articles 52 and 53 of the Charter. The third section mainly deals with different opinions provided by several scholars on those matters, always revolving around the safeguarding or lack thereof of human rights and whether the accession is worth being pursued. Finally in the conclusion, the author has given his opinion, backed by the information which was mentioned throughout the entire paper, as well as his view on whether the effects of this opinion ought to be considered a progression or a hindrance towards an effectively controlled compliance.