The Committee of Ministers calls on states which have not yet done so to consider ratifying these instruments taking their national situation into consideration. In the same vein it also calls on member states to consider broadening the scope of their commitments in respect of the European Social Charter.
The Governmental Committee invites the states party to the Charter to be more concise in drafting national reports, in particular by attaching more importance to a clear and precise presentation of decisions in law and in practice taken and implemented at national level, and also by taking into consideration remarks from the European Committee of Social Rights, and specifically by paying more attention when replying to its questions.
The European Committee of Social Rights has studied carefully Recommendation 1795 (2007) adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on monitoring of commitments concerning social rights, in order to give an opinion to the Ministers’ Deputies, who consulted it before replying to the Assembly.
Overall, the committee notes with satisfaction the numerous constructive proposals made by the Parliamentary Assembly. It is generally in agreement with these proposals and hopes that they will be implemented, though the precise arrangements and timetable would have to be very carefully worked out. The committee would like to take part in any relevant discussions.
It would like to make the following comments on the various elements of the recommendation in paragraphs 11 and 12:
“11. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committees of Ministers:
11.1. take the necessary measures to ensure that member states that have not already done so ratify the revised European Social Charter, the protocol amending the European Social Charter and the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of Collective Complaints and grant national NGOs the right to lodge complaints;
11.2. invite the states parties to extend the scope of their undertakings so that the revised European Social Charter can become a reference standard for European social policy and thus help to develop the legislation of Council of Europe member states;”
The committee notes with satisfaction that there has been a considerable and unprecedented rise in the number of signatures and ratifications over the last few years. Nevertheless, although practically all the Council of Europe member states are now parties to the Charter, and a majority of them to the revised treaty of 1996, there are still grey areas where ratifications are still insufficient. This applies particularly to:
The committee wishes to continue to work with countries that have not yet ratified the revised Social Charter of 1996, to secure its ratification by all the Council’s member states.
Every state should be subject to the same obligations since the Charter is concerned with basic human rights and as such is complementary to the European Convention on Human Rights. It is unthinkable that certain countries in the Council of Europe should permanently lag behind and not respect the rights concerned.
“11.3. take the necessary measures to ensure that the members of the ECSR are elected by the Parliamentary Assembly as from the next partial renewal of the committee;”
The election of committee members by the Parliamentary Assembly is provided for by the 1991 amending protocol. This is the only provision of the protocol that is not yet applied. The committee strongly wishes that a decision to apply this provision of the protocol can be taken as soon as possible by the Ministers’ Deputies so that it may be applied as from the next partial renewal of the ECSR, in 2008.
“11.4. take account of requests for reimbursement of expenses presented by organisations that have lodged collective complaints;”
The ECSR considers that this would be an extremely important development that would strengthen the collective complaints procedure and, in particular, make it easier for trade unions and non-governmental organisations to use it. It is well known that these organisations face financial difficulties when they wish to lodge collective complaints because of the legal costs involved in preparing and following up complaints. Each time it receives a request for reimbursement of expenses from a complainant organisation, the committee will assess the merits of the application and, if it considers it justified, forward it to the Committee of Ministers.
“11.5. establish a working group to consider the possibility of an additional protocol to the Charter providing for a system of individual complaints;”
The ECSR supports the establishment of a working group to consider the possibility of an additional protocol to the Charter providing for a system of individual complaints. Such a working group should notably assess the nature and extent of the additional tasks for the ECSR that this mechanism would entail. In addition, it should examine the issue of the sharing of competence between the Court and the ECSR that the mechanism might engender taking into account, in particular, Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“11.6. take the necessary measures to respond to the everincreasing workload caused by the growing number of states party and collective complaints;”
The committee considers that this concern of the Parliamentary Assembly is a particularly high priority. The growing number of ratifications, particularly of the revised Social Charter, which contains significantly more provisions than the 1961 Charter, plus the entry into force of the collective complaints procedure, has led to a constant increase in the committee’s workload. It is therefore essential for the member states to grant the ECSR and its secretariat the necessary resources to carry out the important functions assigned to it in the treaties.
The ECSR is ready to enter into dialogue with the Ministers’ Deputies to identify its requirements and determine what the priorities are in this area.
“11.7. ask the Governmental Committee to:
11.7.1. make proposals to the Committee of Ministers, based on the results of the regular supervision process, for examinations of articles of the Charter that need to be updated;”
The ECSR agrees that certain material provisions of the Charter should be amended or supplemented. It is ready to contribute to such a reflection on the basis of its findings and would draw particular attention to the proposals in recent years concerning the right to health, which it considers to be very important.
“11.7.2. establish new types of interaction to secure the synergies necessary for the effective application of the Charter;”
The ECSR wishes to reinforce its co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly as well as with the European Parliament, so as to ensure that joint efforts will contribute to making the Charter’s application more effective.
“11.8. ask the Commissioner for Human Rights to pay particular attention to respect for social rights, as provided for in the revised European Social Charter.”
The ECSR wishes to qualify the views expressed by the Assembly. It is in fact extremely satisfied with the co-operation it has established with the Commissioner for Human Rights. It notes in particular the latter’s unfailing commitment to defending and promoting social rights in general and to the Social Charter specifically.
The ECSR will, moreover, reinforce its contacts with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and, more generally, with all the UN institutions working in the field of human rights.
“12. The Assembly also recommends that the parties to the revised European Social Charter:
12.1. make further efforts to comply with the provisions they have accepted;”
This part of the recommendation concerns states but the ECSR can only agree with the appeal by the Parliamentary Assembly for countries to pay more attention to situations that fail to comply with the Charter and take rapid and effective steps to bring national situations into compliance with the Charter.