Social standards

The European Social Charter, adopted in Turin on October 18, 1961 by the then 13 countries members of the Council of Europe, defines a set of social standards for Europe's citizens.

The accord guarantees a host of basic provisions: a good education, a job in a safe environment with adequate pay and reasonable working hours.

The charter gave special protection to youths and pregnant women, imposed a ban on child labor and guaranteed health care and housing. In the workplace, the charter promised social security for people who have fallen on hard times and gave people the right to join organizations, stand up for their social and economic interests and to negotiate collectively.

In the half century since it was passed, an additional 30 countries have signed on to the accord.

The European Social Charter has created a social model for Europe that differs from other social models worldwide, said Monika Schlachter, vice president of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), which monitors signatory states to ensure they abide by the charter.

Countries that have signed either the entire accord or ratified individual articles have all initially had to grapple with problems, Schlachter told Deutsche Welle. But she pointed out that the "northern European nations with their distinctive welfare states come away with very good ratings."

The signatories submit annual reports to the ECSR, which reviews them to check whether they are consistent with the charter's standards. The committee also uses data from the European statistics office Eurostat or international organizations like the International Labor Organization.

A toothless tiger?

The charter is the social and economic equivalent of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). But there are major differences: the ECHR has its own commissioner and court, the European Court of Human Rights, which can convict states and even impose sanctions if the terms of the ECHR are breached.

The ECSR monitors and can address transgressions, but it cannot enforce any legal measures, said Schlachter. It can only make violations public and perhaps shame offending countries by asking: "How serious are you about the fundamentals of your state?"

It's not just the public that's barely aware of the charter's existence; even experts and governments can be a little shaky on the issue.

Fifty years on, the EU as a body is not a signatory to the charter. But Schlachter said awareness is slowly beginning to increase, not least because the ECHR increasingly quotes the committee's conclusions in its own rulings.

No automatic rights

Social and work standards differ from country to country. Even when prime movers like economic performance, labor laws and justice standards are similar, there can still be big discrepancies. That's primarily because kindness and fairness don't come cheap.

"People used to believe that in a booming economy, social issues would take care of themselves," said Schlachter. But in her view, social rights have not become any more prevalent during times of economic growth or financial crisis.

Thorbjorn Jagland, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, who coordinates and supports the ECSR's work, said the current European economic crisis is a challenge for the social charter.

"The crisis has already generated more poverty, more discrimination and more xenophobia. We must become more active instead of sitting back," Jagland said at a ceremony marking the charter's 50th anniversary.

He went on to tell the audience that social justice and freedom are preconditions for cohesive and stable societies.

Chance and challenge

The current euro crisis has led to a weakening of workers' rights, said Schlachter - and that means more collective complaints are being handed in.

"Some unions are now tackling excessively long working hours and unpaid overtime," she said.

Individual cases like these are rarely deemed serious enough for the over-burdened ECHR, but a collective complaint mechanism was introduced in the mid-1990s. Unions and NGOs use it, among others, but only 14 Council of Europe members have so far opted to do so.

Author: Daphne Grathwohl / db
Editor: Martin Kuebler