1.1 EU Values in the Treaty of Lisbon
All official EU Ambassadors are professionally called upon to protect and promote the EU Values. Such protection and promotion of EU Values will thus also be at the heart of your personal proposals and ideas and of your further activities connected to those proposals and ideas as EU Cultural Youth Ambassadors. Which are those EU Values?
EU Values in the Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon, regulating fundamentally the functioning of the EU, states explicitly that the European Union is founded on European Values, specifically on the Values of
Human Dignity
All human beings bear inside a political, cultural, social, economic and environmental dignity that is not allowed to be violated.
Freedom
You are free to think, belief and get informed and in respect for the human dignity of other human beings and of the rights of other EU Citizens you are free to speak, act, move, live and gather a group or found an organization and participate, personally or in group, in the EU political and cultural life and in the EU decision making from the outside or inside of the EU Institutions in which you can take up a function and in which you can get elected.
Democracy
The People elect the Members of the Parliament that represents the people, holds the legislative power (the power to make laws) and can assign, control/check, instruct and if necessary depose and replace the executive power or government. This is how a representative or parliamentary democracy works: the political system understood by the European Commission under ‘democracy’.
Equality
All EU Citizens are equal in the eyes of European Law: we have all the same rights.
Rule of Law
The EU Treaty has to be respected and the European Law and Regulations have stronger power than laws and regulations made at the national level of EU Member States. The EU Court of Justice guards over this.
Human Rights
All human beings and EU Citizens have political, cultural, social, economic and environmental rights that are not allowed to be violated.
Of the foundational EU Values the European Commission is presenting the following most recent formulation and explanation. As a Cultural Youth EU Ambassador it is very important for you to know how the European Commission understands the EU Values as the European Commission is generally considered and respected as the ‘Guardian of the EU Treaty’.
‘The EU values are common to the EU countries in a society in which inclusion, tolerance, justice, solidarity and non-discrimination prevail. These values are an integral part of our European way of life:
Human dignity
Human dignity is inviolable. It must be respected, protected and constitutes the real basis of fundamental rights.
Freedom
Freedom of movement gives citizens the right to move and reside freely within the Union. Individual freedoms such as respect for private life, freedom of thought, religion, assembly, expression and information are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Democracy
The functioning of the EU is founded on representative democracy. Being a European citizen also means enjoying political rights. Every adult EU citizen has the right to stand as a candidate and to vote in elections to the European Parliament. EU citizens have the right to stand as candidate and to vote in their country of residence, or in their country of origin.
Equality
Equality is about equal rights for all citizens before the law. The principle of equality between women and men underpins all European policies and is the basis for European integration. It applies in all areas. The principle of equal pay for equal work became part of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Although inequalities still exist, the EU has made significant progress.
Rule of law
The EU is based on the rule of law. Everything the EU does is founded on treaties, voluntarily and democratically agreed by its EU countries. Law and justice are upheld by an independent judiciary. The EU countries gave final jurisdiction to the European Court of Justice which judgements have to be respected by all.
Human rights
Human rights are protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These cover the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, the right to the protection of your personal data, and or the right to get access to justice.’*