Procedure on non-accepted provisions of the European Social Charter

The procedure on non-accepted provisions aims to encourage States Parties to progressively accept all the Charter’s provisions, as it is in the spirit of the Charter.

As per Article 22 of the 1961 Charter, the Committee of Ministers can ask States to send reports at appropriate intervals relating to provisions of the Charter which they did not accept at the time of their ratification or approval or in a subsequent notification. The implementation of this provision became effective after a 2002 decision of the Committee of Ministers, following which States having ratified the Revised European Social Charter must report on the non-accepted provisions every five years after the date of ratification.

The procedure for the implementation of Article 22 on non-accepted provisions became effective by a decision of the Committee of Ministers adopted on 11 December 2002 at the 821st meeting of the Ministers' deputies, whereby States having ratified the Revised European Social Charter are to report on non-accepted provisions every five years after the date of ratification, and the European Committee of Social Rights is invited to examine the information provided by the States concerned.

Considering the objective of strengthening the impact of the European Social Charter, the Committee of Ministers adopted a new decision on 11 December 2019 at the 1363rd meeting of the Ministers’ deputies inviting “the ECSR to make full use of the opportunities for dialogue offered by Article 22 and to include in this exercise a dialogue with the member States that are not yet Party to the revised Charter, with a view to encouraging them to ratify it”.

In September 2022, the European Committee of Social Rights adopted a decision to henceforth implement the adjusted procedure on non-accepted provisions in a reinforced manner, for all States Parties to either Charter (the 1961 version or the 1996 version). In October 2023, the European Committee of Social Rights amended the deadline for the submission of written information on the non-accepted provisions by the States Parties, from 30 June to 31 March.

Detailed information on the provisions not accepted by States Parties and reports adopted by the European Committee of Social Rights on these provisions may be consulted in the country by country tables presented below.

Reports on non-accepted provisions per country

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Back Reinforcing social rights protection in Europe: to achieve greater unity and equality

Expert seminar

The Department of the European Social Charter organised, under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, an expert seminar to discuss the protection of social rights in Europe so as to achieve greater unity and equality. The seminar also followed up on the Committee of Ministers declaration at its Helsinki session in May 2019. At that session, the Committee of Ministers invited all the member States concerned to consider signing and ratifying the revised European Social Charter and its Additional Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, as a starting point for a resolutely proactive and collective drive to combat inequalities and achieve greater social justice.

The European Social Charter and the European Committee of Social rights guarantee key principles such as free movement of persons, non-discrimination, legal and social security, protection against poverty and exclusion, access to decent housing, health, education and training, as well as employment, safety at work and equality at the workplace, including equal pay.

Participants were welcomed by Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattéi, Ambassador of France to the Council of Europe, and Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. An introduction on strengthening social rights to ensure social justice, national cohesion and the rule of law was pronounced by José Fernandez-Albertos, Researcher at Institute for Policies and Public Goods, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

The seminar was organised in liaison with the “Institut de recherche Carré de Malberg”, University of Strasbourg.