The European Union is entering a time of revival and renewal. It has a brand new Parliament and will soon have a new Commission, one of whose members is likely to be made responsible specifically for fundamental rights. The European Council is about to adopt strategic guidelines that will guide the Union’s future policies in the area of Justice and Home Affairs – an area of utmost importance for fundamental rights. And the Union as a whole is in the process of acceding to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. Similar to proposals by the European Union Agency for fundamental rights (FRA), the Council of the European Union concluded on 5 June 2014 that the EU could indeed “gradually” develop a “Union internal strategy on fundamental rights, possibly through an action plan on a mid-term basis, regarding the respect and promotion of the Charter”. This opens new perspectives for the protection and promotion of fundamental rights within the EU. This is the right moment to establish an EU internal framework for fundamental rights that mirrors the existing external fundamental rights framework. It would send a strong signal to the outside world, demonstrating that the EU and its Member States are prepared to ‘walk the talk’ and thus decrease the dilemma of inconsistency between the Union’s internal and external behaviour.
