Judgment_paragraph 23 · Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone and Others v Conseil des ministres (C-543/14)

23Since the referring court refers not only to Article 47 of the Charter, but also to Article 14 of the ICCPR and Article 6 of the ECHR, it should be recalled that, whilst, as Article 6(3) TEU confirms, fundamental rights recognised by the ECHR constitute general principles of EU law and whilst Article 52(3) of the Charter provides that the rights contained in the Charter which correspond to rights guaranteed by the ECHR are to have the same meaning and scope as those laid down by the ECHR, the latter does not constitute, as long as the European Union has not acceded to it, a legal instrument which has been formally incorporated into EU law (judgments of 26 February 2013 in Åkerberg Fransson, C‑617/10, EU:C:2013:105, paragraph 44; 3 September 2015 in Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and Others v Commission, C‑398/13 P, EU:C:2015:535, paragraph 45; and 15 February 2016 in N., C‑601/15 PPU, EU:C:2016:84, paragraph 45). This finding also applies to the ICCPR. Accordingly, an examination of the validity of Directive 2006/112 must be undertaken solely in the light of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter (see, to that effect, judgment of 15 February 2016 in N., C‑601/15 PPU, EU:C:2016:84, paragraph 46 and the case-law cited).