THE EUROPEAN UNION AND IRELAND’S LINKS WITH EUROPE The Charter of Fundamental Rights outlined the civil and political rights, and also
the social and economic rights of EU citizens. The Charter: ●● laid down the fundamental rights that are binding upon the EU institutions and bodies.
● ● applies to national governments when they are implementing EU law.
People can challenge national laws first through their local courts, and then if that fails, they can appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Did You Know? The CJEU is different from the European
Court of Human Rights, which judges cases based on the European Convention on Human Rights.
Judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)
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The Bosman Case
Jean-Marc Bosman, a Belgian, was a professional footballer who played for RFC Liege, then in the Belgian league. Bosman brought a legal action against the club and the Union of European Football associations (UEFA) because UEFA transfer rules prevented him from moving to a French club.
He took his case to the Court of Justice of the European Union and won it. The Court said that the Treaty of Rome guaranteed
free movement of people within the Union. It ruled that transfer fees for players were an obstacle to the free movement of workers, and illegal under the Treaty (except when they applied to transfers within a member state). The court also ruled against limiting the number of other EU players in a club team.
