British opt-out
In the framework of the 2007 negotiation on the so-alled Reform Treaty,later the Treaty of Lisbon, the British Government succeeded in having a special protocol allowing the UK to derogate from the new legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights that was incorporated in the Treaty of Lisbon.
The implications are not yet known as British citizens will still be able to access the European Court to have their (fundamental) rights established by concrete verdicts of that court.
Formally the Charter is only reflecting existing rights and principles derived from the European Human Rights Convention, from the common constitutional traditions of the member states and from the EU legal framework as developed by the European Court.
See Protocol 15, 19, 20, 21 and 30 for British derogations.
See Protocol 17, 22, 32 and 34 for Danish derogations.
http://europa.eu/legislation_s......onomic_framework/l25060_en.htm
http://europa.eu/legislation_s......onomic_framework/l25061_en.htm
See also British and Danish opt-ins.