A/HRC/23/46 E. 1. Legal, institutional and policy framework related to human rights The Treaty on European Union 115. Art 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides that the EU is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law an d respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. 116. Art 6.1 TEU states that the EU recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union of 7 December 2000, which shall have the same legal value as the Treaties. Art 6.2 provides that the EU shall accede to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Art. 6.3 provides that 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. 117. Art 21 TEU provides that the EU’s action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles which have inspired its own creation, development and enlargement, and which it seeks to advance in the wider world: democracy, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law. 2. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union 118. In June 1999, the Cologne European Council concluded that the fundamental rights applicable at EU level should be consolidated in a charter to give them greater visibility. The heads of state/government aspired to include in the charter the general principles set out in the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and those derived from the constitutional traditions common to EU countries. In addition, the charter was to include the fundamental rights that apply to EU citizens as well as the economic and social rig hts contained in the Council of Europe Social Charter and the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers. It would also reflect the principles derived from the case law of the Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights. 119. The Charter was drawn up by a convention consisting of a representative from each EU Member State and the European Commission, as well as members of the European Parliament and national parliaments. It was formally proclaimed in Nice in December 2000 by the European Parliament, Council and Commission. In December 2009, with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Charter was given binding legal effect equal to the Treaties. The Charter applies to the European institutions, as well as to EU Member States when they implement EU law. 120. The Charter reaffirms the rights set out in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Social Charters adopted by the EU and by the Council of Europe and the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights. 121. The rights in the Charter are grouped in seven chapters: Dignity, freedoms (including the right to asylum, and protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition), equality, solidarity, citizens’ rights, justice, and general provisions. 3. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) 122. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) was established in 2007 by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/2007, with the objective to provide the relevant 43