The promotion of effective access to social protection, in particular for
persons who have difficulties in claiming their rights, is an essential
element of the social cohesion strategy of the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe developed a number of recommendations to improve access
to social protection, based on the best practices of many European countries.
The recommendations and reports have been elaborated by a Group of
specialists on access to social protection, which brought together national
experts from several member and observer states of the Council of Europe,
researchers in the social field and representatives of non governmental and
other organisations.
The work of this group also helped Peter Melvyn, a researcher at the
European Centre for Social Welfare Policy (Vienna, Austria) to draft a
report on "Obstacles to access to social protection
in Europe".