Welcome to the European Social Charter country profiles web page.

All the 46 member States of the Council of Europe have signed one of the two versions of the European Social Charter. 42 of them have ratified either version and 16 have accepted the Additional Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints.

The Charter, known as the Social Constitution of Europe, guarantees a broad range of everyday human rights related to employment, safety at work, health, social protection and welfare, housing and education, with a specific emphasis on the protection of vulnerable groups such as older persons, children, persons with disabilities and migrants. The enjoyment of these rights must be guaranteed without discrimination.

The respect of the Charter’s provisions by States Parties is monitored by the European Committee of Social Rights through two monitoring mechanisms: the collective complaints procedure and the reporting procedure. In addition, the European Committee of Social Rights meets State authorities to discuss acceptance of additional provisions of the Charter under the procedure provided for by Article 22 of the European Social Charter on non-accepted provisions.
 

You can find information available for each of the States Parties to the 1961 Charter and the Revised Charter in the country profiles below.