Socialudvalget 2025-26
SOU Alm.del Bilag 8
Offentligt
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T
HE COST
-
OF
-
LIVING CRISIS
How can the European Social Charter help to uphold social rights?
Parliamentary Conference
Friday, 5 December 2025
Assemblée nationale,
9 rue de Bourgogne,
Paris
(France)
Olympe de Gouges building
Organised by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in cooperation with the Department of Social Rights and the
Parliamentary and Electoral Cooperation Division of PACE
9:30 - 10:00
Opening Session
|
Social rights as a democratic pillar
S
ASKIA
K
LUIT
Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable
Development
A
OIFE
N
OLAN
President of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)
P
AUL
G
ALLES
Chairperson of the PACE Sub-Committee on the European Social Charter
10:00 - 12:30
Session 1
|
Facing the cost-of-living crisis: the strengths of the European Social Charter?
This session will provide expert insights into the ad hoc review and show how the Charter’s monitoring system
can guide debates and reform priorities. It will explore the role of civil society and social partners in the collective
complaints procedure, and how parliaments can benefit from engaging with them.
T
HE
2025 A
D HOC REVIEW
A
OIFE
N
OLAN
President of the ECSR
G
EORGE
T
HEODOSIS
Vice-President of the ECSR
C
AROLE
N
IVARD
Professor at Université de Rouen
10:45-11:00
Coffee-Break
H
OW DOES THE
E
UROPEAN
S
OCIAL
C
HARTER
'
S MONITORING SYSTEM FUNCTION
?
T
ATIANA
P
UIU
Vice-President of the ECSR
O
LIVIER
D
E
S
CHUTTER
member of the ECSR
S
TEFAN
C
LAUWAERT
European Trade Union Confederation
C
IVIL SOCIETY
,
YOUTH
,
SOCIAL PARTNERS AND COLLECTIVE COMPLAINTS
P
IOTR
S
ADOWSKI
Vice-President of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
D
EBBIE
K
OHNER
Secretary General of the European Network of National Human Rights
Institutions (ENNHRI)
R
AREȘ
V
OICU
President of the European Youth Forum
 SOU, Alm.del - 2025-26 - Bilag 8: Invitation til Parliamentary Conference on “The cost-of-living crisis: how can the European Social Charter help to uphold social rights? den 5/12-25 i Paris
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E
MILIE
P
ROUZET
member of the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE)
12:30 - 14:00
Lunch offered by the Council of Europe
14:00 - 16:00
Session 2
|
Parliamentary responses: turning Charter commitments into national action
In an interactive format, this peer-driven session will enable parliamentarians to exchange practical experiences
and explore concrete tools for translating Charter commitments into effective national action.
I
NTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND FRAMEWORKS
– W
HY ALIGNMENT MATTERS
?
O
LIVER
R
ÖPKE
President of the European Economic and Social Committee
K
ATARINA
I
VANKOVIC
Director of DG Employment Social Affairs and Inclusion of the
European Commission
O
LIVIER
D
E
S
CHUTTER
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human
Rights
H
OW DO PARLIAMENTS LEGISLATE
,
SCRUTINISE AND BUDGET FOR SOCIAL RIGHTS
?
PACE members
L
I
A
NDERSSON
Chair of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs of the European
Parliament
H
OW DO PARLIAMENTS INTERACT WITH GOVERNMENTS AND THE
C
OMMITTEE OF
M
INISTERS
?
A
ONGUS
H
ORGAN
President of the Governmental Committee
D
ASTID
K
ORESHI
Ambassador of Albania and Chair of the Rapporteur Group for Social and
Health Questions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
H
OW CAN PARLIAMENTS GROUND THEIR DECISIONS IN SOLID EVIDENCE AND TRENDS
?
M
ICHELE
C
ONSOLINI
Research Officer, Social Policies Research Unit, Eurofound
16:00 - 16:45
Chartering the way forward and closing round
P
AUL
G
ALLES
Chairperson of the PACE Sub-Committee on the European Social Charter
G
IANLUCA
E
SPOSITO
,
Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
����
Moderator
S
ALLY
B
AILEY
-R
AVET
,
Council of Europe
Disclaimer:
The programme is subject to modification at the
organizer’s discretion. Speakers and session formats are
provisional and remain subject to confirmation
 SOU, Alm.del - 2025-26 - Bilag 8: Invitation til Parliamentary Conference on “The cost-of-living crisis: how can the European Social Charter help to uphold social rights? den 5/12-25 i Paris
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C
ONCEPT
N
OTE
B
ACKGROUND
In the
Reykjavik Declaration,
European leaders expressed their firm commitment to protecting and
implementing fundamental economic and social rights as set out in the revised European Social
Charter (Charter). Ensuring that everyone in Europe can enjoy their socioeconomic rights will also
help pushback against threats to democracy, making it “stronger, more adaptable and more inclusive”
as stated in the Roadmap Towards a
New Democratic Pact for Europe.
In this context, the
European Pillar of Social Rights
provides a complementary framework,
reinforcing the political commitment of EU institutions and member States to social justice in line with
the binding standards of the Charter. This approach also resonates with the United Nations
2030
Agenda
and its Sustainable Development Goals, notably in pursuing antipoverty action, securing
decent work and ensuring balanced economic development that help reduce inequalities.
In response to the severe socio-economic impacts of the crisis in Europe, the European Committee of
Social Rights (ECSR) – the Charter’s monitoring body – published an
ad hoc review in March 2025
on social rights and the cost-of-living crisis.
The review examines how State Parties addressed
social protection, employment, housing, food and energy access, and the rights of vulnerable groups.
It explains how the Charter applies to cost-of-living crises and offers recommendations to ensure social
rights are protected when essential costs rise faster than average household incomes.
O
BJECTIVES
This conference aims to reinforce the role of parliamentarians in promoting and implementing the
Charter and to contribute to the upcoming High-Level Conference on the Charter in Chisinau,
Republic of Moldova, on 18–19 March 2026.
The conference will focus on four main objectives:
•
•
•
Enhancing knowledge of the Charter
and the ECSR Ad Hoc Review recommendations to
address socio-economic inequalities.
Sharing good practices
from successful Charter-based reforms at the national level.
Promoting alignment
between Charter standards, the European Pillar of Social Rights, and
the SDGs, including strategies to expand acceptance of Charter provisions and ratify the
Collective Complaints Protocol and the Turin Protocol
Strengthening parliamentary cooperation
through peer-to-peer exchanges and sharing
technical expertise among national parliaments.
•
By combining knowledge-building, practice-sharing, and cooperation, the conference will reinforce
parliamentarians’ capacity to advance social rights across Europe.
D
ELIVERABLE
The conference is expected to contribute towards developing a set of
concise and action-oriented
parliamentary action toolkit
entitled “Engaging with the European Social Charter: Practical steps
for advancing social rights in Europe”.
P
ARTICIPANTS
This conference will bring together parliamentarians, including PACE members, members of the
European Parliament, national parliamentarians; institutional stakeholders, such as representatives
of the ECSR, members of the Governmental Committee of the Charter, the Chair of the Rapporteur
Group for Social and Health Questions of the Committee of Ministers, representative(s) of the
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and national social rights focal points involved in the
Charter’s implementation; as well as civil society, social partners, and academics, including the
Collaborative Platform on Social and Economic Rights, civil society organisations, social partners,
researchers, legal experts, and youth representatives.
W
ORKING LANGUAGES
Interpretation will be provided into English and French throughout the conference.