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Resolution 931 (1989)
Social Charter of the Council of Europe and possible accession thereto by the European Community
The Assembly,
A. Pursuant to Resolution 915 and Recommendation 1107 (1989) ;
B. Pursuant to the public hearing on social policies and fundamental social rights in Europe, held by its Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee in Syracuse on 19 October 1989, and the conclusions drawn therefrom by the committee ;
C. Whereas :
1. social protection and respect for basic social rights and principles in Europe will need to be strengthened with the coming into effect of the Single European Market ;
2. such rights and principles should have a constitutional basis and be enforceable ;
3. by virtue of the Treaty of Rome as amended by the Single European Act, the European Community draws inspiration from the Social Charter of the Council of Europe as well as from some ILO conventions ;
4. a plurality of international legal frameworks for social protection in no clear relation one to another creates confusion and uncertainty ;
5. the concept must be preserved of a European social area encompassing all the countries of the Council of Europe, including those of the European Community and of EFTA, and extending potentially to those of Central and Eastern Europe which are contemplating accession to an increasing number of Council of Europe conventions ;
6. the Social Charter of the Council of Europe - which requires to be adapted to the development in Europe of differing economic conditions and legal situations as the twenty-first century approaches - embodies a wider range of rights, fuller standards and a more all-embracing view of social protection than the draft Community charter ;
7. the Community draft being complementary to the Social Charter of the Council of Europe, it is timely to re-examine the question of accession by the European Community to the Council of Europe's Charter ;
8. accession by the European Community to the Social Charter of the Council of Europe : a. would bring this instrument into a proper relationship with Community law, b. would give a broader and richer basis for social action and policy in the Community, and c. would strengthen its application in the interest of the wider Europe,
D. Reaffirms, in the light of the declarations of the President of the Commission of the European Communities (Strasbourg, 26 September 1989) and with a view to the forthcoming European Council of Community heads of state and government in Strasbourg in December 1989, the position and analysis set forth in Resolution 915 and Recommendation 1107 (1989) ; and
E. Calls on the European Community :
1. to have included in the preamble of the declaration containing a draft charter an explicit reference to the desirability of accession to the Social Charter of the Council of Europe ;
2. to initiate discussions with the Council of Europe in order to adapt the latter's Social Charter and enable the Community to accede thereto.