The Judgment in Bauer and the Effect of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Horizontal Situations

Abstract

The note discusses the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Bauer, a preliminary reference concerning the question of the effect of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in horizontal situations. The note examines whether the Bauer judgment unequivocally transformed the EU Charter into an independent source of private parties’ duties, and how it can be determined which Charter provisions could impose specific duties on private parties. The note evaluates the reasoning of the CJEU and locates the Bauer judgment within the growing strand of EU case law concerning the question of horizontal effect of fundamental rights and the role of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in regulating private law situations.