Written by Anna Apergi Konstantinidis, Special Advisor Diversity Charter Greece

The Report provides a detailed overview of the challenges faced by states in ensuring the rights enshrined in the European Social Charter, while also providing governments with a series of guidelines and recommendations:

• States Parties should design and implement targeted measures for the groups most affected by the crisis, taking into account their specific needs .
• Social protection is a fundamental element of the Charter . Rising inflation has significantly reduced the value of social security benefits and assistance, leaving beneficiaries unable to afford the necessities. States must take all necessary measures to ensure that these benefits remain adequate , adjusting them to keep pace with inflation and supporting the groups most affected.
• The real value of the minimum wage has been reduced in many countries due to high inflation . The Commission makes it clear that states must ensure fair remuneration in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter, ensuring that working persons and their families enjoy a decent standard of living.
• Rising housing costs and the growing risk of homelessness are critical issues facing many people across Europe. The Commission stresses that Charter rights require states to ensure that rents are affordable and that adequate housing provision is adequate in relation to housing costs. Governments should step up initiatives to strengthen the supply of social housing and strengthen protection against evictions .
• Sharp increases in energy and food prices have severely affected households, particularly those on low incomes . Governments should closely monitor levels of energy poverty , provide targeted support to those most affected, and implement long-term policies to ensure stable, consistent and secure access to adequate energy.
• Governments must conduct meaningful consultations with people belonging to the groups most affected by the crisis and ensure their participation in the design, implementation and evaluation of measures taken to address the crisis .

The Committee focuses on the situation of the population groups most affected by the cost of living crisis, while urging States Parties to adopt medium- and long-term rights-based measures to address the long-term impacts of cost of living crises, stressing that addressing a cost of living crisis must be consistent with the rights of the Charter and European human rights law.

Economic hardship must not lead to an erosion of fundamental social rights, and governments must ensure that policies adhere to the principles of social justice and solidarity.

The President of the Commission, Aoife Nolan , specifically stressed that […]Ensuring that all people in Europe enjoy their rights to social protection, housing, work, education is a direct, substantive push against the growing threats to democracy fueled by fears of declining living standards and life chances[…] .

As far as our country is concerned, special reference is made in the Report to the observations submitted by the National Commission for Human Rights (NHHR) to the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), noting that: “the NHHR underlines that the cost of living crisis has disproportionately affected vulnerable groups and stresses that the measures that have been taken are temporary and insufficient to address the long-term impacts on citizens’ livelihoods.”

Finally, reference is also made to the National Committee’s emphasis on the need for closer cooperation between government agencies and non-governmental organizations to effectively address the economic crisis and the need for systemic changes, to address social and economic inequalities, as well as for more, comprehensive, long-term policies that will protect the rights of all citizens, especially those belonging to the most vulnerable groups.