17th February 2012: Andrew Brons has submitted the following question to the Commission on Opt-Outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

His question will require a Written Answer from a European Commissioner.

Andrew asked:

"Tony Blair said, referring to Protocol 30, in the House of Commons on 25th June 2007:

"It is absolutely clear that we have an opt-out from both the Charter (of Fundamental Rights) and judicial and home affairs".

In case C-411/10 involving Mr. N.S. an Afghan citizen, the Advocate General, Ms. Trstenjak, said:

"Protocol 30 on the application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to Poland and to the United Kingdom, which is annexed to the Treaty on the European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, cannot be regarded as constituting a general opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Poland. The provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights which are relevant to the present proceedings thus apply without restriction in the legal systems of the United Kingdom."

However, Article 1(1) of the Protocol precludes both the domestic courts in Poland and the UK and the EU's courts from finding that laws, regulations or administrative provisions, practices or action, in the countries to which it applies, are inconsistent with the Charter.

Would the Commission, as the guardian of the treaties, explain the effects of the protocol on the validity of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the United Kingdom?"