ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

As we are celebrating the 30th birthday of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), it is time to take a closer look at its influence on regional instruments and their interpretation by the competent treaty bodies. In this regard, the European Social Charter (ESC), often neglected compared to its older ‘sibling’, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), merits special attention, as it includes specific provisions on children. The following analysis aims to explore how the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) has interpreted these provisions – particularly in its ‘case law’ on collective complaints – and thereby also tries to identify the main gaps concerning the protection of children's social rights in Europe 30 years after the adoption of the CRC.

THE STARTING POINT: TWO TREATIES AND A UNIQUE MONITORING MECHANISM

Before embarking on a detailed analysis, it is useful to recall the unique setting of the Social Charter within the European human rights framework. Discussion of the ESC is in fact imprecise, as there are two instruments, the original 1961 Charter and the Revised European Social Charter of 1996 (RESC), which exist in parallel, as not all States Parties have yet ratified the revised treaty. Regarding the monitoring of the States Parties’ compliance, however, both the 1961 ESC and the RESC establish certain competences for the ECSR.