The European Social Charter and the Employment Relation

This collection addresses the potential of the European Social Charter to promote and safeguard social rights in Europe. Drawing on the expertise of the ETUI Transnational Trade Union Rights expert network from across Europe, it provides a comprehensive commentary on these fundamental rights. Taking a two part approach, it offers an in-depth legal analysis of the European Social Charter as a new social constitution for Europe, investigating first the potential of the general legal frame in which the Charter is embedded. In the second phase a series of social rights which are related to the employment relation are examined in particular in light of the jurisprudence of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), to demonstrate the crucial but difficult role of the Charter's supervisory bodies to secure the respect and promotion of social rights and national level, bearing in mind the reciprocal influence of other international social rights instruments. This examination is timely, given the pressure exerted on those rights during the recent period of economic crisis. Furthermore, in the light of the predominantly economic vision of Europe, such analysis is crucial. The collection is aimed at stimulating academic scrutiny and raising awareness amongst practitioners and trade unions about this important and equally necessary anchor of the social dimension of Europe in legal and political practice.

Auteur

Niklas Bruun is Professor of Law at the Hanken School of Law, Helsinki.
Klaus Lörcher is former Legal Adviser to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and former Legal Secretary of the Civil Service Tribunal of the European Union.
Isabelle Schömann is Senior Researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).
Stefan Clauwaert is Senior Researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).

They are all members of the Transnational Trade Union Rights (TTUR) Experts Network of the ETUI.

Contenu

Part I: General Part
The European Social Charter as the Social Constitution of Europe
Olivier De Schutter
Interpretation
Klaus Lörcher
Implementation: Article I
Teun Jaspers
Restrictions: Article G
Aristea Koukiadaki
The Charter's Supervisory Procedures
Stefan Clauwaert

Part II: Specific Articles
Article 1: The Right to Work
Simon Deakin
Article 2: The Right to Just Conditions of Work
Klaus Lörcher
Article 3: The Right to Safe and Healthy Working Conditions
Klaus Lörcher
Article 4: The Right to a Fair Remuneration
Zoe Adams and Simon Deakin
Article 5: The Right to Organise
Antoine Jacobs
Article 6: The Right to Bargain Collectively: A Matrix for Industrial Relations
Filip Dorssemont
Article 7: The Right of Children and Young Persons to Protection
Isabelle Schömann
Article 8: The Right of Women to Maternity Protection
Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky
Article 15: The Right of Disabled Persons to Vocational Training, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Isabelle Schömann
Article 19§4: The Right of Migrant Workers and Their Families to Protection and Assistance
Stefan Clauwaert
Article 20: The Right to Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment in Matters of Employment and Occupation without Discrimination on The Grounds of Sex
Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky
Article 21: The Right to Information and Consultation
Bruno Veneziani
Article 22: The Right to Take Part in the Determination and Improvement of the Working Conditions and
Working Environment
Niklas Bruun
Article 24: The Right to Protection in Cases of Termination of Employment
Mélanie Schmitt
Article 26: The Right to Dignity at Work
Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky
Article 27: The Right of Workers with Family Responsibilities to Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment
Isabelle Schömann
Article 28: The Right of Workers' Representatives to Protection in the Undertaking and Facilities to Be Accorded to Them
Niklas Bruun
Article 29: The Right to Information and Consultation in Collective Redundancy Procedures
Bruno Veneziani
Article E: Non-Discrimination
Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky
Conclusions-The Potentials for the Charter to be Used
Niklas Bruun, Klaus Lörcher, Isabelle Schömann and Stefan Clauwaert