The EU Treaties and Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary

The second edition of The EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary provides an article-by-article summary of the TEU, the TFEU, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, to reflect the latest developments in the law since publication of the first edition in 2019. It offers a quick reference to the provisions of the treaties, how they are interpreted and applied in practice, and to the most important legal instruments enacted on their basis.

The fully-updated Commentary considers key developments in all areas of EU law, including the debates and requirements around the Rule of Law, legal decisions in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change measures such as the European Green Deal, as well as recent changes to the Common Agricultural Policy. It also includes significant court rulings on freedom, security and justice, migration and asylum, as well as issues relating to freedom of movement and Brexit. The new edition outlines the Digital Markets Act, a major piece of legislation adopted in 2022 and contains significant updates on EU competition law in the light of new Regulations and Guidelines.

Written by a team of contributors drawn from the Legal Service of the European Commission and from academia, the Commentary offers expert guidance to practitioners and academics seeking fast access to the Treaties, secondary law, and current practice. The Commentary follows a set structure, offering a short overview of the Article, the Article text itself, a key references list including essential case law and legislation, followed by a structured commentary on the Article. The editors and contributors combine experience in practice with a strong academic background and have published widely on a variety of EU law subjects.

Manuel Kellerbauer, Legal Adviser at the Legal Service at European Commission, ,Marcus Klamert, Bundeskanzleramt Wien, Verfassungsdienst,Jonathan Tomkin, Member of the Legal Service of the European Commission, European Commission

Dr. Manuel Kellerbauer is a Legal Adviser at the European Commission's Legal Service dealing in particular with cases related to external relations, social affairs and antitrust. Manuel passed the German bar exam and holds master's degrees from the Universities of Aix-en-Provence and Tübingen, as well as a PhD from the University of Tübingen. Manuel's previous experience includes work at the Commission's Directorate-General for Competition. He lectures at university (Saarbrücken, Würzburg and Lyon), publishes widely on EU competition law related topics, is a co-editor of commentaries on the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights (second edition forthcoming, OUP, 2023) and the UK Withdrawal Agreement (OUP, 2021), as well as a co-editor of the European Journal of Business Law ('EuZW').


Marcus Klamert is Professor of European Law at the University of Graz and a legal adviser at the Federal Chancellery of Austria. He held (visiting) fellowships with the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford and the European University Institute, Florence. He practiced law with a leading global law firm in Vienna and worked for the European Commission in Brussels. He represents Austria repeatedly before the European Courts. His publications include The Principle of Loyalty in EU Law (OUP 2014), Services Liberalization in the EU and WTO - Concepts, Standards and Regulatory Approaches (CUP 2014), and a leading Austrian textbook on EU law. He is a co-editor of The EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary (second edition forthcoming, OUP, 2023) and of the competence entries in the OUP Online Encyclopaedia of EU Law.

Jonathan Tomkin is a member of the European Commission's Legal Service (Justice, Liberty and Security team). Since 2016, he is an affiliated researcher at the Institute for European Law, KU Leuven. He is a barrister (admitted to the Bar of Ireland, Bar of England and Wales - Inner Temple), a former Director of the Irish Centre for European Law (Trinity College, Dublin) and Legal Secretary (Référendaire) at the Court of Justice of the European Union. He is a co-author and co-editor of commentaries on EU Immigration and Asylum Law (Brill 2012), the Citizenship Directive (2nd edition, OUP, 2019) and the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights (second edition forthcoming, OUP, 2023).

VOLUME 1TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNIONPREAMBLETITLE I COMMON PROVISIONSTITLE II PROVISIONS ON DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLESTITLE III PROVISIONS ON THE INSTITUTIONSTITLE IV PROVISIONS ON ENHANCED COOPERATIONTITLE V GENERAL PROVISIONS ON THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTION AND SPECIFIC PROVISIONS ON THE COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICYTITLE VI FINAL PROVISIONSCHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNIONPREAMBLETITLE I DIGNITYTITLE II FREEDOMSTITLE III EQUALITYTITLE IV SOLIDARITYTITLE V CITIZENS' RIGHTSTITLE VI JUSTICETITLE VII GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION OF THE CHARTERVOLUME 2TREATY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE EUROPEAN UNIONPREAMBLEPART ONE PRINCIPLESTITLE I CATEGORIES AND AREAS OF UNION COMPETENCETITLE II PROVISIONS HAVING GENERAL APPLICATIONPART TWO NON-DISCRIMINATION AND CITIZENSHIP OF THE UNIONPART THREE UNION POLICIES AND INTERNAL ACTIONS 463 TITLE I THE INTERNAL MARKETTITLE I THE INTERNAL MARKETTITLE II FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODSTITLE III AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIESTITLE IV FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS, SERVICES AND CAPITALTITLE V AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICETITLE VI TRANSPORTTITLE VII COMMON RULES ON COMPETITION, TAXATION AND APPROXIMATION OF LAWSTITLE VIII ECONOMIC AND MONETARY POLICYTITLE IX EMPLOYMENTTITLE X SOCIAL POLICYTITLE XI THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUNDTITLE XII EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, YOUTH AND SPORTTITLE XIII CULTURETITLE XIV PUBLIC HEALTHTITLE XV CONSUMER PROTECTIONTITLE XVI TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKSTITLE XVII INDUSTRYTITLE XVIII ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND TERRITORIAL COHESIONTITLE XIX RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPACETITLE XX ENVIRONMENTTITLE XXI ENERGYTITLE XXII TOURISMTITLE XXIII CIVIL PROTECTIONTITLE XXIV ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATIONPART FOUR ASSOCIATION OF THE OVERSEAS COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIESPART FIVE EXTERNAL ACTION BY THE UNIONTITLE I THE UNION'S EXTERNAL ACTIONTITLE II COMMON COMMERCIAL POLICYTITLE III COOPERATION WITH THIRD COUNTRIES AND HUMANITARIAN AIDTITLE IV RESTRICTIVE MEASURESTITLE V INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTSTITLE VI THE UNION'S RELATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS AND THIRD COUNTRIES AND UNION DELEGATIONSTITLE VII SOLIDARITY CLAUSEPART SIX INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL PROVISIONS 1697 TITLE I INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONSTITLE I INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONSTITLE II FINANCIAL PROVISIONSTITLE III ENHANCED COOPERATIONPART SEVEN GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS