The Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) of the European Union was proclaimed by the Presidents of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament (EP) at the Nice Summit of the European Council in December 2000. It should not be confused with either the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), adopted by the Council of Europe in 1950, or the Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, otherwise known as the Social Charter, adopted in 1989. These two documents did, however, inspire some of the content of the CFR. Its existence owes much to the increased awareness of fundamental rights within the European Union (EU) and the desire of the EU to promote such rights, whether internally through, for example, citizenship, or externally through the common foreign and security policy. These rights are divided into six sections: Dignity: human dignity, the right to life; the right to the integrity of the person; prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; prohibition of slavery and forced labour; freedoms: right to liberty and security; respect for private and family life; right to marry and right to start a family; freedom of thought, conscience and religion; freedom of expression and information; freedom of assembly and of association; freedom of the arts and sciences; right to education; freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work; freedom to conduct a business; right to property; right to asylum; protection in the event of removal; expulsion or extradition; Equality: equality before the law; non-discrimination; cultural, religious and linguistic diversity; equality between men and women; the rights of the child; the rights of the elderly; integration of persons with disabilities; solidarity: workers rights to information and consultation within the undertaking; right to collective bargaining and action; right to access to placement services; protection in the event of unjustified dismissal; fair and placement services; protection in the event of unjustified dismissal; fair and people at work, family and professional life; social security and social assistance; health care; access to services of general interest; environmental protection; consumer protection; citizens rights: right to vote and to stand as a candidate at elections to the European Parliament; right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections; right to good administration; right to access documents; right to access the Ombudsman; right to petition; freedom of movement and residence; diplomatic and consular protection; justice: right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial; presumption of innocence and right of defence; principles of legality and proportionality of criminal offences and penalties; right not to be tried or punished twice in criminal proceedings for the same criminal offence. The provisions of this Charter are addressed to the institutions and bodies of the EU with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity and to the Member States only when they are implementing EU law. The issue of the Charter's legal status i.e. whether to make it legally binding by incorporating it into the EU Treaty was raised by the Cologne European Council 1999, which originally launched the Charter initiative. The Convention drew up the draft Charter with a view to its possible incorporation, and the European Parliament voted in favour of incorporation. The Nice European Council 2000 decided to consider the question of the Charter's legal status during the general debate on the future of the EU, which was initiated on 1 January 2001. However, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that it wished to use the Charter as a guide when making its judgements. The Laeken European Council 2001 gave the European Convention a mandate to look into the question of incorporating the Charter into the existing treaties. The Charter is now incorporated into the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (2004). By ratification of the Treaty, the Charter also applies to EU Member States. See: Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers; Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers (Social Charter); Court of Justice of the European Union; European Constitution; European Convention on Human Rights; Laeken Declaration; Treaties