Social Rights

Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has published today his Opinion on the European Union initiative to establish a European Pillar of Social Rights.

In his letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, Council of Europe Secretary General highlighted the fact that this action “helps in building a Europe better attuned to meeting people’s everyday needs and therefore able to promote shared and sustainable growth”.

By establishing the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Union intends to underline the relevance of social rights in its institutions and policies.

“To meet this challenge, we must promote legal certainty and coherence between European standard-setting systems protecting fundamental social rights. Ensuring that the European Social Charter, the Social Constitution of Europe, is central to the Pillar will contribute to this objective and make Europe not only more prosperous, but also more equitable and united”, said Jagland.

The initiative will be at the heart of the international conference “The European Pillar of Social Rights: going forward together”, organised by the European Commission in Brussels on Monday, January 23^rd.

“Growth that benefited only a minority would create numerous obstacles to European integration and also weaken our continent’s social cohesion and democratic security. The social question and the democratic question are in fact closely connected”, emphasised Council of Europe Secretary General.