Office of the commissioner for fundamental rights of hungary

The European Social Charter is a Council  of Europe's  treaty (www.coe.int) guaranteeing basic social and economic rights which concern all individuals.  The right to work and to a fair remuneration, the right to social security, the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion and the right to housing are regarded as particularly significant.

The Treaty provides for a procedure to supervise its application.  To this end, States submit annual reports showing how they implement the treaty in practice. The governmental reports are complemented by a system of collective complaints. National trade unions, employers' organisations and approved NGOs are entitled to lodge complains of violations of the Charter against States.

43 of the 47 member countries, members of the Council of Europe, have ratified one of the two versions of the European Social Charter.

Adopted in 1961, and revised in 1996, the Charter celebrates in 2011 its 50th anniversary.  On this occasion, the Directorate of Communication has pleasure in presenting you two free publications related to the treaty :

'The Social Charter at a glance' http://www.coe.int/AboutCoe/media/interface/publications/charte_sociale_en.pdf and  '50th Anniversary of the European Social Charter' http://www.coe.int/AboutCoe/media/interface/publications/charte_sociale_50e_en.pdf

Hard copies, available in English and French, can be ordered at the following address: docrequest@coe.int

To find more about the European Social Charter, we refer you to the dedicated website : http://www.coe.int/lportal/web/coe-portal/what-we-do/society/social-charter?dynLink=true&layoutId=53&dlgroupId=10226&fromArticleId=