Social and economic well-being are closely related and this is well recognized by the promoters of regional cooperation. The framework documents that form the basis of cooperation among regional states reflect this in ample measure but very rarely do regional organizations back this up with binding commitments. By and large, the social dimension is addressed in a perfunctory and incremental fashion. Even when associations adopt a plethora of charters and protocols that list relevant areas of concern, the implementation lag is so enormous that the whole exercise ends up as a mockery. The social side of regional integration obviously requires efficient mechanisms and enormous resources similar to the undertakings made at the national level. It also calls for a massive commitment from political elites to push for social policies at the regional level. Once again it is the EU which has the most elaborate provisions backed by enforcement mechanisms to realize its stated social goals. ASEAN has been rather incremental in its approach. SAARC possesses a Social Charter which was adopted in 2004 but it suffers from a huge implementation deficit.

A little recognized fact both in ASEAN and in SAARC is that social policies form the core of the EU's agenda. Member states are obliged to adhere to EU law pertaining to social issues. This does not however, mean that these issues have not generated any controversies among the members. Britain, for instance, opted out of the Social Charter from 1989 to 1997. But it is generally conceded that the social dimension has been the cornerstone of the EU project which has made a serious effort to convert pious intentions into concrete policy measures.

The European Social Charter was adopted in 1961 followed by an additional protocol in 1988. In 1995 a complaint mechanism was added to that and a revised charter was adopted in 1996. The Social Charter of 1989 (annexed to the Treaty of Maastricht) addresses matters relating to labour market, vocational training, equal opportunities and the working environment.