To mark the 10th anniversary of the COE-FRA-ENNHRI-EQUINET Collaborative Platform on Social and Economic Rights, the Council of Europe is organising, in collaboration with the Scottish Human Rights Commission, two key meetings on 2 and 3 October 2025 in Edinburgh. These meetings will highlight the Platform's efforts over the past decade to promote and protect socio-economic rights throughout Europe.
On 2 October, a high-level roundtable discussion will reflect on a decade of joint efforts to promote and protect social and economic rights across Europe. The discussion will highlight key milestones, assess the evolving role of equality bodies, national human rights institutions, and their partners, and identify how the Platform can continue to strengthen the implementation of the European Social Charter and other key social rights instruments. The event will also serve as a forum to discuss future priorities in a shifting socio-economic and political landscape.
On 3 October, the Platform will continue its discussions, focusing on the current challenges and opportunities of advancing the social and economic rights of rural and remote communities in Europe.
It is a fact that, rural communities face persistent barriers to social and economic rights, including income inequality, poor connectivity, limited services, and discrimination. Despite the protections afforded by the European Social Charter and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, these challenges continue to undermine equality and inclusion.
This event will explore how state obligations under international legal frameworks can address these gaps, and consider how NHRIs, Equality Bodies, and civil society can use existing standards to strengthen rights-based approaches to rural development.
Together, the two events aim to reaffirm commitments to the European Social Charter and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and to map out future strategies to ensure equal access to socio-economic rights across the continent.
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