13TH JULY 2010: Yesterday afternoon I questioned the Presidency in Office of the Council* represented by M. Olivier Chastel, Belgian Secretary of State for European Affairs, in my AFCO Committee meeting:

"You said that the Charter of Fundamental Rights has now become the primary law of the European Union and I believe that that is the general view. However, three countries (including the United Kingdom) negotiated and believed that they had been granted opt-outs or exemptions from the Charter or they pretended to their electorates that they believed that.

"I have heard members of this Committee and others describe these exemptions or opt-outs as worthless. I should be interested to know your view about the value of the opt-outs and the legal status of the Charter in those countries."

A British Liberal Democrat MEP commented that it was a very good question (albeit from an entirely different perspective!)

M. Chastel said that he could not really talk about the legal value of the opt-out, because he was not a lawyer but a chemist.

* This refers to the Rotating Presidency of the Council, which is currently held by the Belgian Government.