Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union with the Charter and the EU's courts will strike down legislation adopted by the EU's institutions that contravenes it. The Charter applies to the Institutions of the European Union and its member states when implementing European Union law. The Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (Treaty of Rome) did not include any reference to fundamental or human rights. The EEC Treaty was written a few years after the failure of the European Defence Community Treaty and the European Political Community Treaty. The latter treaty had included rights provisions and Craig and de Búrca argue that, in light of that failure,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Maastricht treaty, which led to the formation of the European Union, saw the EEC Treaty renamed as the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and renumbered. The Maastricht reforms also saw the creation of the European Union's three pillar structure, of which the European Community was the major constituent part. Following the 2005 referenda, which saw the failed attempt at launching a European Constitution, on 13 December 2007 the Lisbon treaty was signed. This saw the 'TEC' renamed as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and, once again, renumbered. The Lisbon reforms resulted in the merging