The ECJ on Aslyum, Greece & the UK Protocol on the EU Charter (part 2)
On the UK-Poland Protocol The second aspect of the judgment, albeit one given short shrift, concerns the UK-Poland Protocol on the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A key question in the British litigation was whether that Member State has an effective opt-out from the Charter. The Court was clear that it does not. This conclusion is hardly surprising – as the Advocate General declared in her Opinion – the question is “easily answered”. Despite the rhetoric of various British politicians (including former Prime Minister Tony Blair) the Protocol simply does not read as an opt-out as it seeks to clarify the application of the EU Charter. The judgment in NS simply confirms that plain reading. The ECJ did deftly avoided any decision on the more controversial question of the social and economic rights contained in the Charter and their application in Britain. Those rights are likely to be the subject of future litigation and in that field the Protocol...