Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights | Nice Civil Society Forum

Twenty-five years ago, on 7 December 2000, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights was proclaimed in Nice. The Union of European Federalists and its partners invite you to participate in the Nice Civil Society Forum where we are organising on 5 and 6 December 2025 to celebrate this 25th anniversary.

🕊️ The role of the European Federalists and European Movement

The European Council Summit of Nice (7–10 December 2000) took place at a crucial moment for the European Union: institutional reform, enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe, and debates on the future political structure of the EU.

In parallel, on 7 December 2000, a large pro-European demonstration was organised, mainly by the European Federalists and other pro-integration movements, under the slogan “Pour une Constitution fédérale européenne” (“For a European Federal Constitution”).

According to the report “The European People in Nice”, around 10,000 people participated — waving European flags, banners and city flags, including mayors and local administrators.

The event showed a strong local and civic mobilisation, not just symbolic presence, demonstrating that the federalist movement had real social capacity.

The main demand was clear: a European Federal Constitution.

On the same day, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was officially proclaimed — a symbolic and political milestone in EU history.

In the 1990s, the European Movement played a key role in the genesis of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. In particular, it created and led a Civil Society Forum tasked with drafting a proposal for a charter of rights, which directly inspired the European institutions. The European Movement's campaign also convinced Joschka Fischer, then German Foreign Minister, to bring this proposal before the European Council.

Thanks to this mobilisation, on 7 December 2000, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights was proclaimed in Nice, in the salons of the Sardinian Palace, the seat of the prefecture. The European Movements organised a large public demonstration to support this historic signing and call for the drafting of a Constitution for Europe, on the sidelines of the Summit of Heads of State and Government.

To commemorate this major milestone in European history, discuss and highlight the relevance and challenges of the Charter, the Union of European Federalists – France, together with the European Movement – France and Italy, the Jef France are organising a major Civil Society Forum on 5 and 6 December 2025 in Nice.

Provisional programme

Friday 5 December 2025

📍 Palais préfectoral, place Pierre Gautier – Nice

9:00–9:30 a.m.: Welcome and coffee

9:30–10:00 a.m.: Opening session

• Domenec Ruiz Devesa, former Member of the European Parliament, President of UEF Europe
• Hervé Moritz, President of the European Movement – France

10:00am – 11:00am: Keynote speech and questions

• Joschka Fischer*, former German Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Christine Lagarde*, former Minister, President of the European Central Bank

11:00am – 12:30pm: Panel 1 – Origins and prospects of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights

• Pier-Virgilio Dastoli, President of the European Movement – Italy, former Representative of the European Commission in Italy, former Secretary General of the European Movement – International
• Étienne Deschamps, Historical Advisor to the European Parliament Archives (DG Presidency)
• Jo Leinen*, former Member of the European Parliament, former President of the Union of European Federalists
• Antonio Vitorino*, former European Commissioner, former Portuguese Minister, former member of the Convention on the Charter
• Inigo Mendez de Vigo*, former Minister, former Member of the European Parliament, former Vice-President of the Convention on the Future of Europe
• Raymond van Ermen*, Rapporteur of the Permanent Forum of European Civil Society

12.30pm – 2pm: Cocktail lunch

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.: Special session

• Jean-Noël Barrot*, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs

2:45 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Special session

• Koen Lenaerts*, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union
• Síofra O’Leary*, former President of the European Court of Human Rights
• Lucia Serena Rossi*, former member of the Court of Justice of the European Union
• Ignazio Patrone*, Honorary Advocate General of the Italian Supreme Court, Secretary General of the Network of Public Prosecutors

3:30pm – 3:45pm: Coffee break

3:45pm – 5pm: Panel 2 – The Charter today: challenges and contradictions in the protection of fundamental rights in Europe

• Cécilia Rizcallah, Professor of European Law and Fundamental Rights at UC Louvain
• Vincent Doebelin, Lecturer and Researcher in Public Law at the University of Haute-Alsace
• Pierrick Bruyas, Lecturer and Researcher in European Law at the University of Haute-Alsace
• Florence Chaltiel, Professor of Public Law at IEP Grenoble, Editor-in-Chief of the Revue de l'Union européenne

5:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.: Presentation of the European Movement – France's 2025-2026 school competition on the protection of fundamental rights, by Elsa Bultez-Michel

5.30pm – 7pm: Panel 3 – Is the Charter under threat? Guaranteeing the protection of rights in Europe

• Fabienne Keller, Member of the European Parliament, Quaestor, member of the LIBE Committee
• Magali Altounian, Chair of the CIVEX Commission at the Committee of the Regions, Chair of the Europe Commission of the South Region, Deputy Mayor of Nice

Saturday, 6 December 2025

📍 International Centre for European Training (CIFE), 81 rue de France – Nice

8:30–9:00 a.m.: Welcome

9:00–10:00 a.m.: Panel 4 – The European Union's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights

• Mattias Guyomar*, President of the European Court of Human Rights
• Sarah Tabani, lecturer and researcher at the University of Avignon, “The relationship between the Council of Europe and the European Union through the lens of the Charter yesterday and today”
• Michel Caillouët*, diplomat, former European Union Ambassador to the Council of Europe

10.30am – 12pm: Panel 5 – Guaranteeing and protecting the rights enshrined in the Charter today

• Mounir Satouri*, Member of the European Parliament, Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament
• Alessandro Zan*, Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur on the application of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights
• Marco Cilento*, representative of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
• Marie-Christine Vergiat*, former Member of the European Parliament, Vice-President of the League of Human Rights
• Agnès Callamard*, Secretary General of Amnesty International
• Jan Robert Suesser*, Vice-President of the European Civic Forum

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.: Closing session

• Guy Verhofstadt*, President of the International European Movement, former Belgian Prime Minister and former Member of the European Parliament
• Gabriele Bischoff*, Member of the European Parliament, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, President of the Spinelli Group

→ Adoption and signing of the stakeholder declaration

The Union of European Federalists would like to thank the event's partners, including the European Commission, the Alpes-Maritimes Prefecture, Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolitan Area and the International Centre for European Training (CIFE), as well as the event's co-organisers, the European Movement – Italy and France and JEF France. It would like to commend the efforts and thank the volunteers of the European Movement Alpes-Maritimes who contributed to the success of this project.