The Adhesion of the European Union to the Revised European Social Charter

This paper examines the main questions raised by the accession of the European Union to the Revised European Social Charter, under the new architecture of the Union provided by the Treaty establishing a European Constitution. The paper is divided in five parts. The historical background is recalled (I.). The paper then puts forward the recent developments which may give to the scenario of this accession a renewed credency (II.). The question of the external powers of the Union is then detailed (III.). The paper turns, next, to the consequences which would result from the accession of the Union to the Revised European Social Charter, focusing on the status that this instrument would acquire in the legal order of the Union (IV.). Finally, the technical adaptations required for such an accession are examined, as should be contained in the protocol providing for the accession, in particular in order to take into account the principle of autonomy of the legal order of the European Union: the paper proposes a list of the amendments which should be made to 1961 European Social Charter, the 1996 Revised European Social Charter, and the 1995 Additional Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints, in order for the accession of the Union to be compatible with the requirements identified by the European Court of Justice (V.). Altogether, the paper seeks to demonstrate that although the accession of the European Union to the Revised European Social Charter does raise delicate technical and constitutional issues, none of the existing obstacles is insuperable, and they may be overcome if the political will exists to move towards a more coherent and complete protection of social rights in the European Union.