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Resolution 1824 (2011) Final version
The role of parliaments in the consolidation and development of social rights in Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly deplores
the recent decisions in a number of European countries to introduce
massive cuts in welfare programmes that were designed to secure
access to social rights, and notes that the consequences of such
decisions may be dramatic, in particular for the poorest and most
disadvantaged categories of the population.
2. The Assembly believes that parliaments have a vital role to
play in consolidating and developing social rights in Europe to
counter such developments. Emphasising the principles of indivisibility
and interdependence of human rights (including social rights), the
Assembly calls on the parliaments of member states to take into
account international social rights standards in the exercise of
their main functions, namely legislation, representation and oversight.
3. The Assembly stresses, in particular, the importance of securing
the right to health, including the right to a healthy, clean and
safe environment, as one of the fundamental social rights directly
related to the right to life.
4. The Assembly thus calls on the parliaments of member states
to:
4.1. take measures to implement
the recommendations contained in Assembly Resolution 1792 (2011) on the monitoring
of commitments concerning social rights, and, in particular, continue
promoting, at European and national level, the signature, ratification
and implementation of the 1991 Protocol amending the European Social
Charter (ETS No. 142, “Turin Protocol”), the Additional Protocol
of 1995 Providing for a System of Collective Complaints (ETS No.
158), and the European Social Charter (revised) of 1996 (ETS No.
163);
4.2. include, as part of parliamentary debates on human rights,
a regular review of the implementation of social rights, ensuring,
in particular, that governments take the appropriate measures to
follow up on the decisions taken by the European Committee of Social
Rights with regard to the implementation of the articles of the
revised European Social Charter;
4.3. regularly scrutinise government policies implementing
the right to health, and keep abreast of new developments to ensure
that scientific progress is respectful of human rights and dignity;
4.4. take the human rights perspective into consideration as
a primary criterion when conducting parliamentary scrutiny of public
policies and deciding on budgets, in particular in the social and
health field;
4.5. ensure parliamentary oversight of the implementation of
international agreements, programmes and budgets that may have an
impact on social rights, in accordance with Assembly Resolution 1289 (2002)
and Recommendation 1567 (2002)
on parliamentary scrutiny of international institutions;
4.6. raise awareness amongst parliamentarians and parliamentary
research staff on social rights, including through the provision
of specialised training and general induction courses for newly
elected parliamentarians;
4.7. create an all-party group on the development of human
rights with a view to involving parliamentarians and parliamentary
research staff in discussions on the development of a third generation
of human rights with respect to a healthy, clean and safe environment;
4.8. strengthen interparliamentary co-operation and improve
the exchange of best practices at international level, in particular
by:
4.8.1. improving co-ordination and strengthening co-operation
between members of national parliamentary committees whose actions
may have an impact on the consolidation and development of social
rights at national and European level, including also members of
human rights committees and European affairs committees at the national
level.
4.8.2. improving co-ordination and information exchange on the
implementation of social rights between parliamentarians from the
same country in international forums, including the Parliamentary
Assembly, the European Parliament, the Nordic Council, the Conference
of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the
European Union (COSAC), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and
the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB);
4.8.3. taking an active part in the Council of Europe conference
on the environment, climate change and human rights to be held in
Strasbourg in October 2012, with a view to discussing the development
of a third generation of human rights with respect to a healthy,
clean and safe environment, and to exchanging best practices at
local, regional and national levels;
4.8.4. taking an active part in international campaigns aimed
at the promotion of human rights, including, inter
alia, the network of contact parliamentarians of the
Parliamentary Assembly committed to combating violence against women
and the network of contact parliamentarians of the Council of Europe’s
ONE in FIVE campaign to combat sexual violence against children;
4.8.5. establishing co-operation with COSAC to exchange best
practices in the field of parliamentary scrutiny of government programmes.
5. The Assembly believes that member states also need to take
urgent action in order to guarantee effective access to social rights
in line with international standards, obligations and commitments,
and thus calls on them to:
5.1. take
the necessary measures to ensure realisation of the commitments
on social rights enshrined in the Council of Europe and in the United
Nations conventions;
5.2. apply the principles of equality and non-discrimination
as a lever for the implementation of social rights;
5.3. make greater use of the Parliamentary Assembly in overseeing
the work of international organisations whose decisions have an
impact on the implementation of social rights, in particular those that
do not have inbuilt parliamentary bodies, such as the World Health
Organization;
5.4. ensure that national positions expressed at international
level in the field of economics, finance, and trade are respectful
of national commitments under international human rights treaties;
5.5. with a view to consolidating and developing the right
to health, which remains a particular priority, take measures to:
5.5.1. incorporate into their national legislation and practice
the principles and rights enshrined in the revised European Social
Charter, paying particular attention to the principle that everyone has
the right to benefit from any measures enabling him or her to enjoy
the highest possible standard of health attainable;
5.5.2. contribute to the drafting, signature and implementation
of a new protocol to the revised European Social Charter on the
right to health, including the right to a healthy, clean and safe environment;
5.5.3. guarantee the implementation of international treaties
on the right to health with regard to specific target groups (children,
women, people with disabilities, the elderly), in specific contexts
(occupational health) and through the improvement of the enabling
conditions with regard to the right to health (environmental effects
on health);
5.5.4. implement the Council of Europe conventional instruments
that have an impact on the right to health, including the Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being
with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention
on Human Rights and Biomedicine (ETS No. 164, “Oviedo Convention”),
and its protocols;
5.5.5. in line with Assembly Recommendation 1614 (2003) on environment
and human rights, sign, ratify and implement the United Nations
Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making
and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (“Aarhus Convention”)
and its Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers.