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A. Draft resolution
(open)
B. Draft recommendation
(open)
Report | Doc. 16335 | 27 January 2026
The 65th anniversary of the European Social Charter: social rights as the foundation of resilient democracies and social justice
Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A. Draft resolution 
(open)1. The Parliamentary Assembly
is convinced that the aim of social progress set out in the Statute
of the Council of Europe (ETS No. 1) is one of the main guiding
principles of the Organisation and highlights that the European
Social Charter (ETS No. 35 – “the Charter”) was drawn up 65 years
ago as a cornerstone instrument and the counterpart, in the sphere
of economic and social rights, to the European Convention on Human
Rights (ETS No. 5).
2. The Assembly underlines the paramount importance of the European
Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163, “revised Charter”) which,
for 30 years, has formed the most comprehensive legal framework
for the protection of economic and social human rights in Europe.
It commends the European Committee of Social Rights for its outstanding
contribution to this protection system.
3. The Assembly has been an unwavering supporter of the Charter.
It plays a key role in the application by the Council of Europe
member States of the rights guaranteed by the Charter, the development
of these rights and the contribution that social cohesion can make
to democratic security. The Assembly welcomes the fact that, in
2025, following its Resolution 2627 (2025) “Promoting universal
health coverage”, the Council of Europe joined the Universal Health
Coverage Platform (UHC2030), thus providing an opportunity to promote
access to healthcare for all, as guaranteed by the Charter.
4. The Assembly is concerned that the rights guaranteed by the
Charter are today under unprecedented pressures, with major financial,
administrative and social implications for governments, institutions
and citizens, and welcomes the renewed commitment of the member
States in favour of these rights and of social justice, as asserted
in the Reykjavík Declaration of 2023 and the High-Level Conference
on the Charter held in Vilnius in 2024.
5. This social rights-centred approach is in line with the European
Pillar of Social Rights of the European Union and the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals and echoes the Doha Declaration, adopted
at the Second World Summit for Social Development in 2025. Such
an emphasis is all the more necessary in the light of the International
Labour Organization’s 2026 report on employment and social trends,
which highlights the persistent structural weaknesses of labour
markets and the urgent need to strengthen social rights and protections.
6. Decent living conditions and social justice and cohesion are
recognised to be essential at European and international level for
democracy to be stable, and anything which undermines them is acknowledged
to pose a direct threat to democratic security. For the Council
of Europe member States, this means that the Charter is one of the
keys to their democratic stability.
7. In the Assembly’s view, acknowledging this is crucial. It
therefore welcomes the fact that the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe has emphasised the centrality of social rights and social
justice to democracy, placing this dimension among the key elements
of democratic stability in his roadmap towards a New Democratic
Pact for Europe.
8. With this goal in mind, the Assembly values the Additional
Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of
Collective Complaints (ETS No. 158, “Collective Complaints Protocol”)
and regrets the fact that only sixteen of the States Parties to
the Charter and the revised Charter have ratified it. The collective
complaints procedure is the main institutional channel through which
civil society – NGOs and social partners – can take part in the
Charter system. It is relevant to all the generations in that it
provides a channel for the social concerns of the entire population,
from the young to the elderly, to be directly raised by those affected.
In this connection, the Assembly regards ratification of the Collective
Complaints Protocol both as a sign of democratic maturity and a
concrete measure to foster democratic participation, expressing
confidence in the principles which should guide society for all
generations in the years to come.
9. The Assembly welcomes the decision of the Republic of Moldova
to host the next High-Level Conference on the Charter in Chișinău
on 18 and 19 March 2026. It urges the member States who will meet
in Chișinău to agree on measures recognising that investing in social
rights is both a moral imperative and a key strategic step in protecting
democratic stability by reducing inequalities, strengthening social
cohesion and social justice and restoring trust in institutions.
10. The Assembly urges member States to demonstrate to their populations
their commitment to addressing the social and economic inequalities
in European societies by reaffirming their support for a united
and resolute implementation of the Charter. It encourages the ten
member States which have not yet ratified the revised Charter –
Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Poland,
San Marino, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – to take advantage
of the momentum provided by the Chișinău conference to add their
ratifications.
11. The Assembly also calls again on the four countries which
have not yet done so, namely Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and the
United Kingdom, to ratify the Protocol amending the European Social
Charter (ETS No. 142, “Turin Protocol”), which provides for the
members of the European Committee of Social Rights to be elected
by the Assembly, as already requested in Assembly Resolutions 1824
(2011) “The role of parliaments in the consolidation and development
of social rights in Europe” and 2180 (2017) “The ‘Turin process’:
reinforcing social rights in Europe”.
12. The Assembly is convinced that for the Charter to have a real
impact within member States, parliamentarians must be amongst its
strong supporters and in a position to use its provisions in their
work. National parliaments are however often overlooked in this
respect. It is crucial to think more about the potential they represent.
13. Members of national parliaments are central to the life of
the Charter because it is they that line up legislation and national
budgets relating to Charter obligations, hold the executive to account
in relation to the findings of the European Committee of Social
Rights, instigate reforms in areas where shortfalls in the implementation
of social rights persist and promote the process of ratifying the
Charter. Owing to their dual role as members of the Assembly and
their national parliaments, Assembly members have a particular duty
to contribute to these efforts.
14. In the light of the above, the Assembly calls on the parliaments
of the member States to draw up a programme of activities in the
wake of the Chișinău conference to give practical expression to
this new drive and, in particular to:
14.1. strengthen the capacities and knowledge of parliamentarians
and parliamentary research services with regard to the Charter;
14.2. systematically integrate the Charter into studies on the
impact of draft legislation;
14.3. hold parliamentary hearings on progress on the implementation
of decisions taken by the European Committee of Social Rights, to
which civil society and social partners should be invited;
14.4. hold a debate on the ratification of the revised Charter,
the Turin Protocol and the Collective Complaints Protocol;
14.5. review, one by one, the provisions that they have not
accepted, with a view to their adoption;
14.6. review, one by one, the reservations adopted on ratification
of the Charter and its protocols, with a view to lifting them;
14.7. establish specific co-operation on social rights with
the national institutions tasked with protecting human rights.
15. Lastly the Assembly would point out that in order to guarantee
that European system for the protection of social rights is clear,
consistent and legally certain, particular emphasis should be placed
on the interpretation of the Charter by the European Committee of
Social Rights. In this connection, the Assembly considers that national
authorities, including parliaments and courts, are duty-bound to
take full account of the findings, conclusions, decisions and statements
of interpretation of the Committee when applying the Charter in
order to take the required legal, social and economic measures at
national level.
B. Draft recommendation
(open)1. The Parliamentary Assembly
refers to its Recommendation 1976 (2011) “The role of parliaments
in the consolidation and development of social rights in Europe”,
its Resolution 2180 (2017) and Recommendation 2112 (2017) “The ‘Turin
process’: reinforcing social rights in Europe” and its Resolution...
(2026) “The 65th anniversary of the European Social Charter: social
rights as the foundation of resilient democracies and social justice”.
2. The Assembly welcomes the Protocol amending the European Social
Charter (ETS No. 142, “Turin Protocol”), and the reforms set in
motion by the Committee of Ministers since 2022 to improve the effectiveness,
clarity and impact of the European Social Charter (ETS No. 35, “the
Charter”).
3. The Assembly emphasises that in the context of unprecedented
pressures on democracies, social and economic rights must be one
of the priority areas to address, including in the context of the
work around the New Democratic Pact, and that the Charter is one
of the main pillars of democratic stability and security. It invites
the Committee of Ministers to keep this centrality to the forefront
in its decisions and priorities concerning the Pact and the Charter.
4. 2026 marks the 65th anniversary of the original Charter and
the 30thanniversary of it revised version (European
Social Charter (revised), ETS No. 163, “revised Charter”). The Assembly
considers therefore that this year marks a unique opportunity and
high point in the work to promote social rights. It invites the
Committee of Ministers to put in place a range of initiatives to
translate this undertaking into practice and to:
4.1. initiate and facilitate a programme
of activities and exchanges around the Charter including debates,
conferences and campaigns, including in this work, civil society
– especially young people – and social partners with a view to raising
the Charter’s profile and promoting its effective implementation;
4.2. promote and expedite, with the relevant ministries, the
ratification of the revised Charter and the Additional Protocol
to the European Social Charter providing for a system of collective
complaints (ETS No. 158, “Collective Complaints Protocol”);
4.3. with regard to the election by the Assembly of the members
of the European Committee of Social Rights, which is the only provision
of the Turin Protocol which is not applied, adopt a unanimous decision to
this effect pending further progress on the ratification by member
States of the Protocol;
4.4. reflect upon and incorporate the political impetus given
by this anniversary year in the future priorities of the Council
of Europe Programme and Budget.
5. The Assembly considers it particularly important for the fundamental
right to a healthy environment to be recognised in a legally binding
instrument as part of the efforts to promote social cohesion, democratic stability,
social equality and justice. One of the options the Assembly would
support is for the revised Charter to be complemented by an additional
protocol specifically establishing the right to a healthy environment.
6. Despite years of work by the Steering Committee for Human
Rights (CDDH), as a result of which it was able to present its “study
on the need for and feasibility of a further instrument or instruments
in the field of human rights and the environment” and the positive
example provided by several member States – Andorra, France, Iceland,
Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain – the Committee
of Ministers, meeting in Luxembourg for the ministerial session
of 14 May 2025, avoided the heart of the matter. This failure to
act lies in stark contrast with the undertakings made in the Reykjavík
Declaration, through which the member States recognised the imperative
need to strengthen the protection of human rights in the context
of the environment. The result is that Europe is still the only
continent which does not have a regional legal framework safeguarding
the right to a healthy environment.
7. The Assembly is also particularly keen to remove all clauses
from the Council of Europe’s human rights treaties which, like Article
38 of the Charter and Article A of the revised Charter, enable parties
not to apply the treaty to all their territory. These clauses are
incompatible with the norms provided for by the Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties of 23 May 1969 and mean that the excluded
territories are subject to different human rights standards.
8. In the same way, the Assembly recalls that the Charter and
the revised Charter apply only to nationals of a State Party, and
to foreigners who are legally resident or regularly employed in
the territory of the State Party in which they are present. This
restriction is also at variance with the universality of human rights
upheld by the Council of Europe.
9. In the light of all these areas for improvement, the Assembly
urges the Committee of Ministers to use the occasion of the ministerial
session in Chișinău in May 2026, to instruct the CDDH to draw up
a feasibility study on a revision of the material, territorial and
personal scope of the Charter.