European Union (EU) leaders signed Wednesday the Charter of Fundamental Rights at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
The document was signed by Jose Socrates, prime minister of Portugal which holds the rotating EU presidency, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering.
"Dec. 12 will be a fundamental date in the history of the European Union," said Socrates. "This charter is a commitment to European values."
The charter, which currently has no legal force, is part of the new EU treaty -- the Lisbon Treaty -- to be signed Thursday in the Portuguese capital.
It brings together a range of European human-rights texts into a single document for the first time in history.
The charter will only apply to 25 EU nations, excluding Britain and Poland, which have decided to opt out amid concerns that the European Court of Justice could use the document to impose certain rights in their countries.
Source: Xinhua/agencies
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