09/12/2025 Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The parliamentary conference on the cost-of-living crisis and the role of the European Social Charter took place on Friday, 5 December 2025 at the Assemblée Nationale in Paris. The event was organised by the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development in cooperation with the Council of Europe’s Department of Social Rights and PACE’s Parliamentary and Electoral Cooperation Division.
The opening session featured PACE members Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, and Paul Galles (Luxembourg, EPP/CD), Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on the European Social Charter. They were joined by Aoife Nolan, President of the European Committee of Social Rights, and Seamus Boland, President of the European Economic and Social Committee.
Speakers underlined that protecting social rights is a democratic imperative and a core commitment reaffirmed in the Reykjavik Declaration.
Participants underlined that the cost-of-living crisis has deepened inequalities across Europe, affecting access to housing, employment, food and energy, and hitting vulnerable groups hardest. The conference called for stronger parliamentary action to turn Charter commitments into national policies, stressing that investing in social rights is paramount for democratic stability. Ensuring decent work, adequate social protection and equal access to essential services, participants argued, is fundamental to countering exclusion and rebuilding trust.
The discussions will feed into a forthcoming parliamentary action toolkit and contribute to preparations for the High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter to be held in Chisinau in March 2026.