Fruzsina Gardos-Orosz and Almudena Del Castillo Santamaría attended the event organised by the French Embassy in Hungary, the Social Science Centre HUN-REN and the Institut Français Budapest on 4 June 2024.
The event was held in the context of the 20th anniversary of Hungary’s integration into the European Union.
Fruzsina Gardos-Orosz is Director of the Institute for Legal Studies – Social Science Centre (HUN-REN), Professor of Public Law – Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) and was responsible for the welcoming remarks and moderation of one of the round tables.
Throughout the day, practitioners, academics and specialists in European law from France and Hungary gave presentations mostly in French, with some interventions in English.
On various aspects of the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union, starting with the evolution of the Charter of Fundamental Rights from its conception to the present day. It goes on to analyse the evolution of the case law of the Court of Justice in the field of fundamental rights and, finally, to examine the concept of the constitutional identity of the Member States in the light of the Charter.
Speakers throughout the day emphasised the importance of recognising national specificity and the need for open, transparent and honest dialogue between EU member states.
Some believe that the EU’s protection of human rights cannot depend solely on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, because they consider that it is an instrument that must be combined with other older instruments, with more jurisprudence, such as the European Convention on Human Rights.
Members of the Hungarian judiciary stressed that it is difficult to see in their national courts the implementation of the EU Charter, calling for action by the Hungarian judges’ training institutions to further deepen in the preparation of future judges this European instrument for the protection of fundamental rights, with the promotion and encouragement of judicial cooperation, as it is an effective counterweight to the decline of the rule of law in the European Union.
