The EU institutions are required take into account the Charter of Fundamental
Rights in the design and implementation of legislation or of policies, both within
law- and policymaking internal to the Union and in the external relations of the
EU. This study was commissioned by the European Parliament's Policy
Department for Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the
Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament, to examine how
they discharge this duty: it looks into the role of the Charter in the legislative
process; in the economic governance of the Union; in the work of EU agencies; in
the implementation of EU law by EU Member States; and, in the external relations
of the Union, both in trade and investment policies and in the Common Foreign
and Security Policy. It also analyses certain gaps in the judicial protection of the
Charter and identifies measures through which the potential of the Charter could
be further realized.