In spite of this negative evaluation, there is still hope for effective results in this field in the coming years. Some important actions have already been taken. A first symbolic step was the signing of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in December 2000 by the European Commission, the Council and Parliament. Following the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, the provisions of the Charter now have binding legal force. Secondly, on 28 April 2004 an ambitious Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on certain procedural rights in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union was submitted by the European Commission. Although the Proposal was eventually abandoned in 2007 after years of (political) disagreement, the EU has recently renewed its ambition to strive for minimum procedural rights. In its Resolution of 30 November 20093 the Council endorsed the Roadmap for strengthening procedural rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings (hereinafter the Roadmap) as the basis for future action. The Resolution clearly states that action should be taken at the level of the EU in order to strengthen the rights of suspected or accused persons in criminal proceedings. Furthermore, the Resolution describes the rights included in the Roadmap4 as fundamental procedural rights to which absolute priority should be given. Against this background, the current article aims to offer an up-to-date overview of the topic of procedural rights for suspects and defendants in criminal proceedings in the EU. This overview is structured around three central questions. Firstly, why should the EU give attention to this issue? How come it is of such importance? Secondly, what are the existing levels of safeguards in the Member States? Are the fundamental procedural rights in criminal proceedings as provided for by the European Convention of Human Rights (ECtHR) guaranteed in the criminal justice systems of the EU? Finally, if the answer to the previous questions were to call for EU action in this field, where does the EU stand at present? Which steps have already been taken and what does the future hold?