“Protecting social rights is not a secondary political agenda. It is the very foundation of democratic stability,” said PACE President Petra Bayr today, addressing the High-Level Conference on Social Rights and the European Social Charter, organised in Chisinau by the Council of Europe and the Republic of Moldova’s Presidency of the Committee of Ministers.

She deplores “rising inequalities, the cost-of-living crisis and growing insecurity” across Europe, which are eroding trust in democratic systems. In this regard, she believes that the European Social Charter remains essential and must protect everyone, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized, and underlined that the remaining limitations in the protection of the Charter should be lifted.

Ms Bayr recalled that access to adequate housing was a fundamental human right and a social good. “States must step up public investment in social and affordable housing and treat housing as a central pillar of social stability and human dignity,” she emphasised. “We must also protect the right to health, including sexual and reproductive health.”

Finally, the PACE President highlighted the particular responsibility of parliamentarians: “Rights become reality through legislation, public budgets and democratic oversight – which pass through parliaments – and PACE will continue to encourage member states to strengthen their commitments to the Charter and to fully implement the rights it protects.”

A side-event, jointly organised by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, was held yesterday in the margins of the conference, on the theme “Multilevel governance for the implementation of social rights”.