This monograph explores and clarifies the specific features of the collective complaints procedure, established by the treaty system of the European Social Charter as an instrument for the protection of social rights, in the light of its evolutive application by the European Committee of Social Rights.

The collective complaints procedure was created in 1995 as an optional quasi-jurisdictional monitoring mechanism specific for the protection of social rights, within the framework of the Council of Europe treaty system of the European Social Charter. In recent years, the importance and use of this procedure has increased considerably, in the context of a number of serious economic and social crises which are impacting negatively on the effective enjoyment of social rights in Europe. This short monograph explores and clarifies the specific features, the potential and limits of the collective complaints procedure, intended as a sui generis instrument for the protection of social rights, in the light of its evolutive application by the European Committee of Social Rights (the monitoring body of the European Social Charter) and its real impact on the state and conditions of social rights in the European countries concerned.

Preface; Introduction: Increased Interest in the Protection of Social Rights at the European Level: The Case of the European Social Charter and the Collective Complaints Procedure; 1. The European Social Charter Treaty System in a Nutshell; 2. Foundations and Rationale of the Collective Complaints Procedure within the European Social Charter System; 3. The Admissibility of Collective Complaints under the ESC System; 4. Procedural Stages, Aspects and Tools in the Examination of Collective Complaints; 5. The Result of the Assessment of Collective Complaints: The ECSR’s Decisions on the Merits and Their Follow-Up; 6. Jurisdictional Nature and Legal Value of the ECSR’s Decisions on the Merits; 7. The Interpretative Importance of the ECSR’s Case Law; 8. Final Considerations: Eff ectiveness and Appropriateness of the Collective Complaints Procedure as an Instrument for Protecting Social Rights in Europe; Bibliography; Index.