Page "Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union" Paragraph 12

Article 51 ( 1 ) of the Charter addresses the Charter to the EU's institutions, bodies established under EU law and, when implementing EU laws, the EU's member states.

In addition both Article 6 of the amended Treaty of European Union and Article 51 ( 2 ) of the Charter itself restrict the Charter from extending the competences of the EU.

A consequence of this is that the EU will not be able to legislate to vindicate a right set out in the Charter unless the power to do such is set out in the Treaties proper.

Further, individuals will not be able to take a member state to court for failing to uphold the rights in the Charter unless the member state in question was implementing EU law.

It is this last element that has been subject to the most debate.