Background
In 2001, head representatives of EU Member States met at the Laeken Conference to mandate the establishment of a European Convention to draft a Constitution for the European Union. A draft of the constitution was submitted to the Presidency of the Council on July 18, 2003, approved in a revised edition by an Intergovernmental Conference during the European Council meeting in Brussels on 17-18 June 2004, and currently awaits ratification by all Member States. The EU Constitution represents an overhaul of EU institutions and policies. While the previous Maastrict, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties were efforts to clarify the EU’s decision-making policies and improve their effectiveness, the EU remained a combination of different legal entities. The Constitution, however, provides the European Union with a single legal personality.

General features
Distinguishing features of the Constitution include a clearer division of power, improved bureaucratic efficiency, and an elected Council President (eliminating the current rotating leadership system) and Foreign Minister. Equally important, the Constitution represents a compromise between EU “federalists” and “intergovernmentalists,” as well as between large and small Member States. The revised constitutional draft resolves previous contention on the issue of voting on EU policies: starting in November, 2009, 15 Member States and 65% of all EU citizens must vote favorably to pass policies, while at least 4 Member States must oppose the policy in order to block it. The revised draft also ends national vetoes in areas including judicial and police cooperation, economic policy, and education, but maintains veto rights in the areas of foreign policy/defense, social security, taxation and culture.

Structure
The EU Constitution is composed of four parts. Part I defines EU values, objectives and powers. Part II incorporates the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which was previously signed and proclaimed in Nice on December 7, 2000. Part III details the policies and functioning of the EU. Part IV contains provisions, including the procedures for adapting and revising the Constitution. Two sets of Addendums were added on June 25, 2004. Addendum One, 2003/2004 IGC – Provisional consolidated version of the Protocols annexed to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and of Annexes I and II contains the Protocols that will become binding once the Constitution is ratified by all Member States. Addendum Two, IGC 2003/2004 Provisional consolidated version of the Declarations to be annexed to the Final Act of the Intergovernmental Conference provides the ICG’s non-binding opinions and clarifications of the Constitution.

Human Rights in the Constitution
Human rights issues are primarily addressed in Parts I and II of the Constitution. Article I-7, Fundamental Rights, recognizes the rights, freedoms, and principles set forth in the Charter (Part II), and accedes the EU to the Council of Europe’s European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. For more information on the legal relationship between the Charter and the ECHR, see the paragraphs below. Part II, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, covers the entire range of civil, political, economic and social rights of European Union citizens and residents. The Charter is divided into six sections: Dignity, Freedoms, Equality, Solidarity, Citizens Rights and Justice. Chapter One, Dignity, prohibits the trafficking of persons (Article 5). Chapter Three, Equality, addresses non-discrimination (Article 21) and equality between men and women (Article 23). Article 52 (2) recognizes that the rights addressed in the Charter may be addressed in other parts of the Constitution, and declares that these rights “shall be exercised under the conditions and within the limits defined by these relevant Parts.”

Charter of Fundamental Rights: Trafficking
Article 5(3) of the Charter, Prohibition of slavery and forced labour, states “Trafficking in human beings is prohibited.” While the Charter does not define trafficking in persons, the Declaration concerning the explanation relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights in Addendum 2 to the Constitution cites the annex to the Europol Convention (p. 15): “traffic in human beings: means the subjection of a person to the real and illegal sway of other persons by using violence or menaces or by abuse of authority or intrigue with a view to the exploitation of prostitution, forms of sexual exploitation and assault of minors or trade in abandoned children.” This Declaration also cites Chapter VI Article 27(1) of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement, which refers to illegal immigration: “The Contracting Parties undertake to impose appropriate penalties on any person who, for financial gain, assists or tries to assist an alien to enter or reside within the territory of one of the Contracting Parties in breach of that Contracting Party’s laws on the entry and resident of aliens.” Finally, the Declaration in Addendum 2 refers to Article 1 of the Council Framework Decision on Combating the Trafficking in Human Beings O.J. L 203/1, which details the offences included in the trafficking of human beings for sexual or labor exploitation.

In addition, Article 19(2) of the Charter, Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition, states that “No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This Article could apply to victims of trafficking who fear reprisals by their traffickers if they are repatriated, and particularly concerns victims originating from countries that do not provide adequate governmental protection and assistance to trafficked individuals.

Charter of Fundamental Rights: Non-discrimination
Article 21(1) of the Charter states “Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited.” The Declaration in Addendum 2 states that this paragraph is drawn in part from Article 13 of the EC Treaty, which has been replaced by Article III-8 of the Constitution. The Declaration also describes the different functions of Article 21 of the Charter and Article III-8. Article III-8 allows the Union to adopt legislative acts to combat the discriminations Article III-8 “exhaustively” lists, while Article 21 of the Charter “does not create any power to enact anti-discrimination laws in these areas of Member State or private action, nor does it lay down a sweeping ban of discrimination in such wide-ranging areas.” In other words, Article 21 only addresses discrimination by the Union’s bodies and institutions.

Charter of Fundamental Rights: Equality between men and women
Article 23 of the Charter states “[1] Equality between men and women must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay. [2] The principle of equality shall not prevent the maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in favour of the underrepresented sex.” The Declaration in Addendum 2 points out that Article 23(2) is an abbreviated wording of Article III-108(4) of the Constitution, which details that the “specific advantages” described will “make it easier for the underrepresented sex to pursue a vocational activity or to prevent or compensate for disadvantages in professional careers.”

The relationship between the Charter and the European Convention 
Article I-7 of the Constitution integrates both the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Council of Europe’s European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In its entirety, the article reads:

1. The Union shall recognise the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights which constitutes Part II.
2. The Union shall accede to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Such accession shall not affect the Union's competences as defined in the Constitution.
3. Fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and as they result from the constitutional traditions common to the Member States, shall constitute general principles of the Union's law.

These two documents, while almost identical in their coverage of fundamental rights, were originally created for different audiences and therefore have slightly different scopes. The Convention applies to 45 European countries, including all EU Member States and Russia, while the EU Charter applies only to EU Member States. The Charter therefore covers certain political rights that are exclusive to European Union citizens. The EU Charter also addresses the rights to good administration, workers’ social rights (including the right to strike), bioethics, and the protection of personal data.

Concerning their status under the Constitution, the Charter and the ECHR are autonomous documents but share a very close relationship. The Protocol related to Article I-7(2) on the accession of the Union to the European Convention on Human Rights (Addendum 1, p. 315) preserves the “specific characteristics of the Union and Union law, in particular with regard to: the specific arrangements for the Union’s possible participation in the control bodies of the European Convention on Human Rights, the mechanisms needed to ensure that proceedings by non-Member States and individual applications are correctly addressed to Member States and/or the Union as appropriate.” The Protocol ensures that EU accession to the European Convention “shall not affect the competences of the Union and the powers of its institutions.” Likewise, nothing should affect the extant relationship of EU Member States to the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly in regards to ECHR Article 15 (allowing signing parties to derogate from the ECHR in times of emergency) and Article 57 (allowing signing parties to make reservations to the ECHR).

At the same time, the Constitution’s Charter is bound to follow the scope of ECHR’s rights. Article 52(3) of the Charter reads “Insofar as this Charter contains rights which correspond to rights guaranteed by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the meaning and scope of those rights shall be the same as those laid down by the said Convention. This provision shall not prevent Union law providing more extensive protection.” The Declaration concerning the explanations relating to the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Addendum 2, p. 15), explains that this Article “is intended to ensure the necessary consistency between the Charter and the ECHR by establishing the rule that, insofar as the rights in the present Charter also correspond to rights guaranteed by the ECHR, the meaning and scope of those rights, including authorized limitation, are the same as those laid down by the ECHR…[T]he legislator…must comply with the same standards as are fixed by the detailed limitations arrangements laid down in the ECHR…without adversely affecting the autonomy of Union law and of that of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”

The Constitution and Domestic Violence
In reference to Article III-2 of the Constitution (“In all the activities referred to in this Part, the Union shall aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women.”), the Conference created a Declaration on combating all kinds of domestic violence (Addendum 2, p. 66). The Declaration reads: “The Conference agrees that, in its general efforts to eliminate inequalities between men and women, the Union will aim in its different policies to combat all kinds of domestic violence. The Member States should take all necessary measures to prevent and punish these criminal acts and to support and protect the victims.” According to Juliette Kamper, a policy officer at European Women's Lobby, "this Declaration will have no legal status but represents a moral obligation and political will. The scope of the Declaration is limited in that it only refers to domestic violence; it would have been much better if it referred to all forms of violence against women. However, the wording chosen is particularly strong as it calls on Member States to take all necessary measures to prevent and punish domestic violence and to support and protect victims."

Women’s human rights criticisms of the Constitution
The revised Constitution has faced criticism from women’s rights groups. In a June 2004 newsletter, the European Women’s Lobby expressed concern that equality between men and women is not addressed in the first sentence of the Union’s Values (Article I-2). Article 1-2 reads “The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between men and women prevail.” The EWL also cited a difference between the July 18, 2003 draft of the Constitution and the revised Constitution approved by the ICG June 18, 2004. Article I-26(2), concerning the election for the Presidency of the Commission, previously stipulated that each Member State nominate three candidates, “in which both genders are represented.” The ICG-approved text does not make this gender representation requirement.