Minister,
Mr Mayor,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Following the ministerial conferences which, in 1961 and 1991, led respectively to the adoption of the European Social Charter and to the reform of the system to supervise its implementation at European level, it is only natural that the political process aimed at asserting social rights in Europe should restart here in Turin.

With regard to this, may I first of all convey my sincere thanks to the mayor, Piero Fassino, for the warm welcome we have been given in this splendid city, a city with a leading role not just in industry, culture and sport, but also in the promotion of social issues.

Special thanks also go to Minister Poletti who, through the support he has given to the organisation of this conference in the context of the Italian presidency of the Council of the European Union, has helped to consolidate the dialogue between the European Union and the Council of Europe in the field of social rights, a dialogue which is now more necessary than ever.

The starting point for this conference was the realisation that  the European Social Charter currently finds itself confronted with a number of challenges which jeopardise its effective implementation, and now require the adoption of political decisions by the contracting States and the political organs of the Council of Europe, and also, to a certain extent, by the European Union.

The Conference is a reflection of our conviction that the Charter can and must play an important role in today's Europe, and of our determination to work in this direction.

The Conference has repositioned the Social Charter at the centre of the European political scene with the objective of enabling its enormous potential to be given full expression, alongside the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in the name of the indivisibility and interdependence of fundamental rights and freedoms.

The discussions have focused above all on the economic crisis and the management of its social consequences. Many of those taking the floor have acknowledged the inconceivability of seeking to address a crisis on this scale while disregarding the question of giving force to social rights.

The current levels of unemployment in many European countries, particularly among young people, and the resurgence of poverty and social inequality, which now affects broad swathes of the population, are realities which unfortunately present obstacles for Europe's economic recovery.

The growing sense of distrust, uncertainty and demotivation which results from these situations is at risk of undermining the social pact which, for the last fifty years, has enabled Europe to live in a far more united, prosperous and civil manner.

All of this makes it necessary to tackle the crisis through measures that reconcile the demands of growth with the need for social justice. In other words, the social dimension cannot be politically divorced from the macroeconomic context or considered as a mere adjunct to it.

Respect for social rights is not just a question of civilisation, social peace or human dignity. If they are to function properly our economies need human capital that is recognised as a founding asset of our society, and treated as such in all respects.

It is essential to view, and act upon, the economy and society as a whole, one single dimension, without ever separating what constitute its intrinsic parts. From this standpoint, implementation of the European Social Charter is an essential prerequisite for the success of the economic policies pursued by the relevant national and European authorities.

Europe must make the best possible use of its standard-setting systems to promote innovative social policies aimed at preventing situations where anti-social, anti-European, racist or corporatist movements, or those simply founded on political exploitation of social egoism, can endanger the principles which the Council of Europe has always defended and promoted: democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

To ensure that the crucial economic recovery is sustainable from a social viewpoint, it is urgently imperative that all Council of Europe member States ratify the revised European Social Charter, and accept the largest possible number of its provisions, as the Committee of Ministers called upon them to do on the occasion of the Social Charter's 50th anniversary.

With regard to those States which are also members of the European Union, wider acceptance of the revised Charter would also offer the advantage of fostering greater legislative integration between the European Union and the Council of Europe.

With this aim in mind, the conference has launched ideas and proposals for ways of guaranteeing that the fundamental rights safeguarded by the Charter will be fully upheld when the contracting States take decisions ensuing directly or indirectly from developments in EU law.

The solutions envisaged also include the possibility, at the appropriate time, of EU accession not just to the European Convention on Human Rights but also to the revised European Social Charter, as recommended by the European Parliament. Such solutions could help to resolve potential or emerging conflicts between the two normative systems, in the interests of both the States themselves and their citizens.

During the conference ideas and proposals were also put forward for enhancing the Charter supervision mechanism based on the system of collective complaints.

In particular, the discussions brought to light the fact that, if this mechanism were better known and accepted, especially among EU member States, it could contribute to a reduction in the number of cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

Among other benefits, broader adhesion to the collective complaints procedure would help to reduce the workload of the national administrative bodies participating in the Charter supervision process based on the reporting procedure.

That would make it possible to avoid a situation where, because of the limited number of States that have accepted the collective complaints system to date and the fact that the same States are also subject to the national reporting procedure, the latter process wrongly ends up putting more pressure on certain States than on others.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the Secretary General pointed out in his opening address, and the General Rapporteur reiterated just a moment ago, the Conference is but the first step in the Turin process.

This process will involve a series of initiatives to implement the common priorities identified during this conference.

I will personally monitor this work, while constantly bearing in mind that the reinforcement of the European Social Charter is one of the priorities identified by our Secretary General in his strategic vision for the Council of Europe over the next five years.

To this end, apart from supporting the dissemination of the General Rapporteur's report, we will do everything we can to ensure that, as far as possible, the European Social Charter always occupies a place within the Council of Europe convention system consistent with the fundamental nature of the rights it safeguards.

With that same aim in mind, as part of the Turin process, we will firstly support the initiatives taken by member States of the competent Council of Europe entities, and secondly co-operate with the relevant European Union institutions.

In this regard, in agreement with the authorities of Belgium - which, as you know, will hold the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of our Organisation from mid-November - I wish to inform you that, as a result of this Conference, the Belgian Government will organise on 12-13 February 2015 in Brussels a Conference on the European Social Charter. This event will be specifically dedicated to the issue of the protection of fundamental social rights and to the coherence of the international legal systems in this area.

The combination of these initiatives will be implemented to ensure that the Social Charter will always remain, in the interest of all, the social Constitution of Europe.

All of the above steps will be taken in order to ensure that, in the interests of all those concerned, the European Social Charter can always remain the Social Constitution of Europe.