Ulrich Becker – författare

[European fundamental rights]European law is increasingly superseding and displacing national law. The previous presentations of European Community Law are for the most part oriented towards the institutions. The citizens and their legal positions come off worse.

With the textbook published in 2002 a representation has been presented for the first time, which treats the essential problems of European fundamental rights and fundamental freedoms according to a uniform didactic concept. The completely revised new edition takes into consideration all changes, and generally includes the new additional protocols of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as well as (above all) the treaty pertaining to a constitution for Europe and thus at the same time the charter of the basic rights of the Union.

The addressee''s of the textbook are primarily students and judicial interns, but moreover also the courts, regulatory authorities and associations as well as all other parties interested in European Community Law.

The ever increasing relevance of European law which involves replacement or supplementation of and interaction with national law not only affects the states in Europe but also, and foremost, the citizens. The rights of the citizens in Europe are protected by the European Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. The aim of this textbook is to grasp and illustrate the meaning of these rights and to integrate it into a coherent system. For this purpose the book not only deals with the pertinent law of the European Union and the European Community, but also with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which, too, is becoming more and more important. In addition, regard is had to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union which forms part of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. Although the Charter is not yet legally binding since the Constitution has not been ratified by all EU Member States, the Community Courts already make reference to it as a concentrate of the constitutional traditions common to the Member States. It therefore does not seem entirely unlikely that the Charter might be included into the existing Treaties irrespective of the future constitutional developments on the EU level. On a similar anticipatory basis the book also takes into account those Protocols to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms that have not yet entered into force.