The European Committee of Social Rights today held an exchange of views with the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović.
The discussion focused on the right to health including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the light of the recent issue paper published by the Commissioner and on the basis of the Committee’s statement of interpretation on the right to protection of health in times of pandemic (adopted in April 2020) and the more recent statement on social rights and COVID-19 (adopted in March 2021), as well as the on-going examination of State reports on the right to health for Conclusions 2021 (see notably the targeted questions addressed to States Parties in the framework of the reporting procedure).
In addition, the discussion included issues of common concern such as the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion, the right to adequate housing and others with a specific emphasis on the protection of vulnerable persons such as older persons, children, persons with disabilities, migrants and LGBTI persons.
The Commissioner emphasised that “any effective response to today’s challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, must address the deep and structural inequalities that exist in all European societies. A broad social rights approach is required.”
In addition, she recalled the multiple calls from her predecessors and from herself on member states to ratify the revised European Social Charter and accept the collective complaints procedure, which she considers “a powerful bottom-up tool for the enforcement of social rights at the national level” and welcomed in this context the Committee’s proposal of overcoming its optional nature.
Finally, the exchange of views provided an opportunity to discuss general issues of cooperation and synergy between the Committee and the Commissioner. Both parties reiterated their desire to help each other achieve real progress in protecting social rights.
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