A comparative analysis between the EU charter of fundamental rights and the SADC charter of fundamental social rights

Abstract

Every citizen within both the EU (European Union) and the South African Development Community (SADC) region is entitled to have their fundamental social rights protected and promoted. Therefore, both the EU and SADC established social protection instruments, of which the EU s Charter of Fundamental Rights (EU Charter) and SADC s Charter of Fundamental Social Rights (SADC Charter) form a part. Questions of whether or not these charters are achieving their goals led to the main objective of this mini-dissertation, which was to compare the status of the EU Charter to the status of the SADC Charter within each respective regional architecture, identify similarities and differences in terms of content of both charters, and compare how the EU and SADC go about implementing and complying with their respective charter. A comparative analysis was conducted by comparing relevant, accessible information in order to synthesize findings which revealed that the status of the EU Charter is more prominent than that of the SADC Charter, although both have legal status. The EU Charter aids the achievement of the EU s goals, and ensures social rights are visible and safeguarded for EU citizens through effective implementation. The SADC Charter does not create social rights visibility, as it lacks enforcement mechanisms. The content of both charters consolidates previous scattered rights within their regions into one comprehensive document. The EU Charter seems to be more comprehensive than the SADC Charter. Yet, regardless of the comprehensiveness of the charters, they have a similar goal, which is to protect citizen s fundamental rights. The EU Charter seems to be more successful than the SADC Charter, which, in its current status, can be viewed as only a paper tiger.