Discrimination remains widespread in the States Parties to the European Social Charter

Back Discrimination remains widespread in the States Parties to the European Social Charter

Conclusions 2016 of the European Committee of Social Rights

The European Committee of Social Rights today published its Conclusions 2016 in respect of 34 States* on the articles of the Charter relating to “employment, training and equal opportunities ». State reports of Albania and Luxembourg could not be examined because they were not
submitted in time.

The rights under review were: the right to work; the rights to vocational guidance and training; the right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community; the right to engage in a gainful occupation in the territory of other Parties; the right to equal opportunities between women and men; the right to protection in cases of termination of employment; and the right of workers to the protection of their claims in the event of the insolvency of their employer.

The Committee found 166 cases of non-conformity of the Charter and 262 situations of conformity out of 513 conclusions on the rights examined in 2016. There were 85 cases where the Committee was unable to assess the situation due to lack of information.

As a result, it was possible to identify several problems that a large number of States Parties encounter when applying the Charter, for instance insufficient protection against discrimination in employment on different grounds such as gender and sexual orientation, insufficient integration of persons with disabilities in mainstream education, the labour market and society in general and insufficient guarantee of equal rights between men and women in particular as regards equal pay. In some cases the efforts to combat unemployment and encourage job creation remain inadequate.

Nevertheless, the Committee welcomes several positive developments, such as the adoption of anti-discrimination legislation in some countries, in particular in respect of persons with disabilities. The Committee also notes that vocational guidance and training systems are well established in the majority of the States examined.

* Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Spain, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom