Print
See related documents
Resolution 2180 (2017)
The “Turin process”: reinforcing social rights in Europe
1. Social rights are fundamental human
rights. Only the enjoyment of socio-economic rights and social inclusion
allows people to fully exercise their civil and political rights.
In Europe, many benefit from social rights guarantees at respectable
levels, and protection through strong legal instruments and mechanisms,
but too many still remain trapped in cycles of disadvantage and
poverty. Moreover, an overall trend towards downgrading social rights
guarantees can be observed across Council of Europe member States
and the inequality gap between the rich and the poor is widening
in terms of income and wealth.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly stresses that a healthy democracy
is inextricably linked to economic, educational and social policies;
these should respond to the needs of the people and aim to reduce
social inequalities that breed political disaffection, distrust
and resentment against the political establishment and that lead
to populism and sometimes violent reactions.
3. In the light of this evident need for action, the Assembly
is concerned about the current level of compliance with major European
social rights standards such as the European Social Charter (revised)
(ETS No. 163) and its protocols. It considers that the potential
of this social rights instrument and its related mechanisms is not
being fully exploited, in particular because of the ratifications
still pending from several member States.
4. The Assembly is also concerned about a lack of coherence between
the legal systems and case law related to different European organisations,
in particular the Council of Europe and the European Union, which has
the capacity to undermine the effectiveness of the respective instruments.
Thus, decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union do
not always fully take into consideration Council of Europe standards. Moreover,
the collective complaints mechanism linked to the European Social
Charter treaty system clearly needs to be strengthened and to receive
wider support from Council of Europe member States, including European
Union member States.
5. The Assembly has always promoted the European Social Charter
(revised) as the most comprehensive social rights standard in Europe.
It will continue to do so in close co-operation with other Council
of Europe bodies, in particular the European Committee of Social
Rights (ECSR). It also commits to stepping up dialogue and co-operation
with the European Parliament and other European bodies, such as
the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of
Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC). The Assembly firmly intends
to further strengthen the dialogue between national delegations
and parliaments initiated through the “Turin Process” for the European
Social Charter, which was launched by the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe in October 2014 as a political process aimed at reinforcing
the normative system of the European Social Charter and at improving
the implementation of social and economic rights.
6. Beyond the Turin Process at Council of Europe level and the
European Pillar of Social Rights as an expression of political commitment
within the European Union, the ambitious objectives of a future, comprehensive
and sustainable “European strategy of social rights” should be equal
opportunities for all, social cohesion and less income inequality
including for the most vulnerable groups, in order to preserve European democracies
and the overall peace that Europe has known for several decades.
7. The Assembly thus calls on Council of Europe member States
to support, through their governments and parliaments, debates and
co-operation launched under the Turin Process and to proceed as
follows:
7.1. contribute to strengthening
the European Social Charter as a normative system by:
7.1.1. reaffirming
the principles of the indivisibility and interdependence of human
rights in the public discourse and in legislative and policy papers;
7.1.2. in the case of the 13 member States which have not yet
done so, ratifying the European Social Charter (revised), to improve
levels of compliance with this major social rights standard;
7.1.3. in the case of the four countries which have not yet done
so (Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom), ratifying
the Protocol amending the European Social Charter (ETS No. 142,
“Turin Protocol”) to allow for the election of ECSR members by the Assembly,
as already requested in Recommendation
1976 (2011) on the role of parliaments in the consolidation
and development of social rights in Europe;
7.1.4. in the case of the member States which have not yet done
so, ratifying the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter
Providing for a System of Collective Complaints (ETS No. 158), in
order to ensure more effective monitoring of social rights compliance;
7.1.5. participating actively in the parliamentary activities
aimed at promoting the European Social Charter treaty system and
at enhancing its implementation, which are regularly organised by
the Assembly in co-operation with other Council of Europe bodies,
notably the ECSR, and providing voluntary contributions to this
end;
7.2. strengthen the pan-European dialogue on social rights
and the co-ordination of legal and political action with other European
institutions, notably the European Union and its bodies, by:
7.2.1. stimulating and actively participating in regular exchanges
between specific committees of the Parliamentary Assembly and the
European Parliament;
7.2.2. promoting the formal incorporation of provisions of the
European Social Charter (revised) into the European Pillar of Social
Rights as a common benchmark, and the consideration of rights guaranteed
by the Charter in the subsequent implementation process by member
States of the European Union;
7.2.3. promoting and supporting a pan-European “parliamentary
dialogue on social rights” to bring together European parliamentary
bodies and national parliaments for regular debates with other partners
(including governments and civil society), and possibly organising
a high-level conference on social rights in Europe;
7.2.4. based on existing European normative systems, notably
the European Social Charter (revised) and the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union, promoting the development of a European
strategy of social rights and related indicators;
7.3. improve compliance with the highest social rights standards
at the national level, by:
7.3.1. regularly checking the
conformity of national policies with the priorities identified by political
processes at the European level, including the Turin Process, the
European Pillar of Social Rights and the relevant resolutions of
the Assembly;
7.3.2. based on various European standards and recommendations,
developing targeted national strategies to address specific but
complex socio-economic challenges, such as equal opportunities for
all (including by improving rates of youth employment and female
participation in the labour market), social cohesion and more income
equality (thus preventing cycles of disadvantage and reducing child
poverty), including for the most vulnerable groups.