European guidelines to counter social dumping and labour exploitation

Recommendation 2307 (2026)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 23 April 2026 (17th sitting) (see Doc. 16371, report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: Ms Valérie Piller Carrard). Text adopted by the Assembly on 23 April 2026 (17th sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers to its Resolution 2653 (2026) “European guidelines to counter social dumping and labour exploitation”, its Resolution 1993 (2014) “Decent work for all” and its Recommendation 2304 (2026) “The 65th anniversary of the European Social Charter: social rights as the foundation of resilient democracies and social justice”.

2. With a view to strengthening national action against social dumping and labour exploitation, the Assembly highlights the importance of the benchmarks enshrined in the European Social Charter (ETS No. 35 and ETS No. 163 (revised), “the Charter”) in guiding member States’ efforts in this area and invites the Committee of Ministers to:

2.1 promote acceptance of additional provisions of the Charter and 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);

2.2 draw the attention of national governments to the recommendations for action contained in its Resolution 2653 (2026).

3. Moreover, the Assembly underlines that, in order to address the adverse effects of business activities on human rights, including socio-economic rights, more effectively, there is a strong need to accelerate the negotiations and adopt an international legally binding instrument based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. It therefore urges the Committee of Ministers to ask member States to actively support this process.