The Collective Complaints procedure was introduced by the Additional Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, adopted in 1995.

The aim pursued with the introduction of the procedure was to increase the effectiveness, speed and impact of the implementation of the Charter.

In this view, the collective complaints procedure has strengthened the role of the social partners and non-governmental organisations by enabling them to directly apply to the European Committee of Social Rights for rulings on possible non-implementation of the Charter in the countries concerned, namely those States which have accepted its provisions and the complaints procedure.

The decisions adopted by the European Committee of Social Rights in the framework of this monitoring mechanism can be consulted using the European Social Charter Caselaw Database (HUDOC Charter).

More on the collective complaints procedure

  List of INGOs entitled to lodge collective complaints established by the Governmental Committee of the European Social Charter and the European Code of Social Security

 

 European Committee of Social Rights Findings 2023 on the follow-up to decisions in the collective complaints procedure with respect to Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal.

Findings  2022 | 2021 | 2020 |  2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016

Indietro Decisions adopted by the European Committee of Social rights at its 347th session

Decisions adopted by the European Committee of Social rights at its 347th session

The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) adopted during its 347th session (17-21 March 2025):

 

The complaint was registered on 18 March 2024. It relates to Articles 11 (the right to protection of health), 17§1 (the right of children and young persons to social, legal and economic protection), 30 (the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion) and 31 (the right to housing) as well as Article E (non-discrimination) read in conjunction with each of the aforementioned provisions of the revised European Social Charter.  FIDH alleges that the situation regarding access to drinking water and the adequacy of water sanitation facilities in Guadeloupe, as well as the chlordecone contamination in Guadeloupe and Martinique is in breach of the aforementioned provisions of the Charter. FIDH asserts in particular that in Guadeloupe, up to 80% of the water produced is lost through leaks in the water network and when water is available, it is not drinkable because of obsolescent pipes, inadequate sanitation and chlordecone pollution. It also states that in Guadeloupe and Martinique, water, soil, food and more than half a million people in the French West Indies are contaminated with chlordecone. In addition, FIDH alleged that the lack of effective enjoyment of these rights amounts to discrimination on the basis of residence against the French overseas populations.

The ECSR held that until France makes a declaration in terms of Article L§2 of the Charter that it shall extend the Charter’s application to Guadeloupe and Martinique, Charter safeguards that France has accepted as binding on its metropolitan territory do not apply to these overseas territories. In the absence of such a declaration the Charter cannot be regarded as de facto applicable to Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The ECSR therefore unanimously declared the complaint inadmissible on 19 March 2025.

 

  • The decision on the merits in International Federation of Associations of the Elderly (FIAPA) v. France, Complaint No. 205/2022

The complaint was registered on 14 February 2022. It relates to Article 23 (the right of elderly persons to social protection) and Article E (non-discrimination) in conjunction with this provision of the revised European Social Charter. In its complaint, FIAPA alleged that the reform of the judicial organisation introduced by Law No. 2019-222 of 23 March 2019, which entered into force in January 2020, does not adequately guarantee the rights of older persons in judicial procedures before the protection litigation judge with regard to protection measures for older persons and their implementation, in violation of the aforementioned provisions of the Charter.

Pursuant to Article 8§2 of the Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, this decision will not be made public until after the Committee of Ministers has adopted a resolution or a recommendation, or no later than four months after it has been transmitted to the Committee of Ministers.

 

  • The decision on the merits in Associazione Professionale e Sindacale (ANIEF) v. Italy, Complaint No. 200/2021

The complaint was registered on 21 June 2021. It relates to Articles 1§§1 and 2 (the right to work), 15 (right of persons with disabilities to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community) and E (non-discrimination) read in conjunction with each of these provisions of the Revised European Social Charter. In its complaint, ANIEF alleged that the system in place in Italy to provide educational assistance to students with disabilities breaches the Charter because of the precarious employment of a majority of “support teachers”. According to ANIEF, the precarious employment and lack of specialisation of most support teachers hinders educational continuity for students with disabilities as well as the effective inclusive education of these students, in the long-term impacting on their right to independence, social integration and participation in the life of the community.

Pursuant to Article 8§2 of the Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, this decision will not be made public until after the Committee of Ministers has adopted a resolution or a recommendation, or no later than four months after it has been transmitted to the Committee of Ministers.


 

Strasbourg 31/03/2025
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