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In the field of social security, the Council of Europe operates
also through two types of bilateral cooperation :
cooperation with countries that have not yet signed or ratified the Code,
Protocol or Revised Code;
technical cooperation with countries that have
ratified them but are experiencing legal or administrative problems with
applying them, or that wish to extend their commitments by accepting
additional parts of the Code or Protocol.
Cooperation and assistance in preparation for
signature and ratification of standard-setting instruments
This well
established type of cooperation began in the 1990s as part of the
pre-accession and accession processes whereby central and east European
countries became members of the Council of Europe. It pursues a number of aims:
to inform people
about the Council of Europe’s social security instruments;
to offer legal advice with a view to bringing national law into line with
European standards;
to promote ratification of the relevant instruments.
In practice it
takes place chiefly at bilateral or regional level, through training seminars,
compatibility studies and 'zero reports'. The purpose of a compatibility study
is to provide a government with an overview of its current law and practice and
prepare for a 'zero report' on application of the Code. 'Zero reports' analyse
the extent to which existing law and proposed legislation comply with the Code
and Protocol. Their preparation is similar to that of the detailed reports
submitted by countries that have already ratified the instruments. When submitting a
'zero report' a country has to enclose copies of relevant legislation and
statistics in order to prove that the Code’s requirements are being met (see
Article 75 of the Code).
Technical cooperation
Contracting states, which are experiencing legal or administrative problems
with application of certain provisions of the Code or Protocol, or which want to
accept additional parts of those instruments, are provided with technical
assistance aiming at:
 helping countries with technical or administrative issues concerning the
reporting procedure;
assessing what impact application of the Code and Protocol will have on
projected reforms and draft legislation concerning the various social
contingencies, so that incompatibility can be avoided;
improving coordination between contracting parties’ commitments
under, on the one hand, the European Code of Social Security and its Protocol
and, on the other, the ILO's social security conventions;
supplying legal analysis and support contracting parties that wish
to extend their commitments by accepting additional parts of the Code or
Protocol.
Many technical cooperation activities are jointly organised by the Council of
Europe and the ILO on a bilateral basis with the countries concerned, and they
take different forms depending on countries’ needs. They may include, for
example, direct contact and consultation between national and international
experts, technical consultation missions, reports on draft legislation and
proposed reforms, and training for national civil servants.
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