President of the Court of Justice,

Judges and Advocates-General,

Presidents,

Excellencies,

Ladies

Gentlemen,

My fellow Europeans,

Exactly 25 years ago, in January 2000, a European Convention gathered to draft our Charter of Fundamental Rights. It was chaired by President Roman Herzog. And its goal was to put people at the centre of our Union. With their dignity and their rights. It reminded all Europeans that we were not just customers in a Single Market, but citizens in a Union of free people. As President Herzog said back then, the Charter was written for all Europeans – including the citizens of future Member States. It was always meant to be more than a summary of our Constitutions. It is a promise. A promise to present and future generations of Europeans. A promise that our Union would always stand up for universal rights, the freedoms and the dignity of all people on this great continent.

In the last five years, the promise of the Charter and of our Treaties was tested like never before. It was tested by a global pandemic, in trying to safeguard our freedoms and protect the health of our citizens. It was tested by unprecedented attacks on the rule of law and the primacy of our Treaties. And it was tested by a war, by Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. A full-scale attack on all the rights and values we believe in. The last five years have shown that our Charter and Treaties are more than words on paper. They are a legacy to protect. And this legacy, the guarantee of the rights of each of our citizens, is ultimately in the hands of this Court.

This is also the responsibility I accepted five years ago and that we all shoulder fully today. Because the next five years will be just as difficult as the last five. The inviolability of our principles will be put to the test, as much by the fragmentation of our international order as by those who sow fear and division in our societies. The rights and freedoms of individuals can never be taken for granted. That is why we, this Court and this Commission, are custodians of the rule of law, of democracy and of social progress.

Our economies, too, will be put to the test, at a time of fiercer global competition. Today we are working a great deal on European competitiveness. In other parts of the world, they think that competitiveness can be achieved by sacrificing partners. That there is a comparative advantage to be gained by breaking free from common rules. But in Europe we know that the opposite is true.

Our economy is competitive when it stays true to our European social pact and reconciles freedom to conduct business with workers’ protections. Our economy is competitive when men and women enjoy the same opportunities. Our economy is competitive when our citizens and our businesses are protected by an independent judiciary. Rule of law, environmental and climate protection, fair and decent working conditions are not just values – they are our competitive advantage. Our laws must be a competitive advantage, through major simplification, but never at the expense of workers or the environment. By making our laws the international standard, as we did with the General Data Protection Regulation. By offering businesses a clear, predictable and stable framework. In other words, the best possible conditions in which to invest. Since freedom to conduct business is conditional upon legal certainty.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Colleagues,

Today we vow to be the Guardian of the Treaties. ‘Le Gardien des Traités’. But our Union is not just a treasure to be guarded. Protecting our Treaties and filling them with life is a daily task. Our values are universal; they do not change. But the world around us is changing. And, again and again, we have to follow new paths to live up to our responsibility as Guardian of the Treaties. The values on which the Union is founded are set out very clearly in the first sentence of the second article of the Treaty on European Union. Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of people belonging to minorities. Today we have vowed to do everything in our power to defend our Union. That is a great responsibility, but also a beautiful one. To live up to that responsibility with you, my colleagues, fills me with joy. Just as our anthem captures the passion for Europe in music. And that is precisely why it is entitled ‘Ode to Joy’. Let us set to work with a great sense of responsibility, sincerity and joy.

Es lebe Europa. Long live Europe. Vive l’Europe.