The European Parliament has long called for the adoption of a European Prison Charter, a legally binding document that would harmonise broad aspects of prison law at EU level. In the view of both Parliament and EU scholarship, the justification for such harmonization proves, primarily, functional: safeguard the effective operation of mutual recognition instruments in the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice. This is evidenced also by the choice of Article 82(2) TFEU as legal basis. However, the Charter has not been welcomed by the national authorities, who instead challenge the competence of the Union to legislate in the area of detention. National challenges relating to the (il)legitimacy of EU prison law making seem to be grounded on both domestic and EU related grounds. Domestically, member states may lack either the political will or the capacity to effectively enforce EU detention legislation; furthermore, EU law itself has
been criticized for instrumentalizing detainees’ individual rights. In light of such considerations, future EU action needs to reframe itself, restoring individual rights at the forefront of EU law making, and building on the concrete benefits that the Prison Charter would entail for national safety and financial interests.