MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2022)1437/4.3

15 June 2022

1437th meeting, 15 June 2022   4.3 European Social Charter – European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) Procedure for the election of six members   Reference document GR-SOC(2022)7

 

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         adopted the following procedure for filling the five seats on the European Committee of Social Rights falling vacant on 31 December 2022, with the terms for these seats beginning on 1 January 2023 and ending on 31 December 2028, as well as for filling the seat having fallen vacant as from 23 March 2022 due to the resignation of a member, with the term for this seat beginning immediately upon election and ending on
31 December 2024:

a.         each Contracting Party to the European Social Charter or Revised European Social Charter may submit to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, no later than 23 September 2022, the name of a candidate it deems suitable for the vacant seats, bearing in mind that these seats concern Group I (two seats), Group III (two seats), Group IV (one seat) and Group V (one seat left vacant following the resignation of a member), and having regard to Article 25 of the Charter as it appears in Article 3 of the Protocol amending the European Social Charter and to the agreed rules concerning nationality,^[1]and taking into account Recommendation Rec(81)6 of the Committee of Ministers adopted on 30 April 1981;^[2]

b.         the Secretary General will forward the list of nominations to the Committee of Ministers, which will hold an election by secret ballot at one of its meetings in the autumn of 2022;

c.         the candidate or candidates obtaining the simple majority of the votes within the meaning of Article 10.4 of the Rules of Procedure for the meetings of the Ministers’ Deputies (i.e. half of the number of the Deputies entitled to vote, plus one) and the highest number of votes will be declared elected;

d.         if one seat, or more, remain(s) vacant after the first vote, there will be a second round of voting. The candidate(s) having obtained the highest number of votes will be declared elected;

2.         agreed, for the purposes of this election, to allocate the 46 member States as follows:^[3]

Group I (three seats): two seats vacant

Armenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Group II (three seats): no seats vacant

Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland andRomania.

Group III (three seats): two seats vacant

Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Group IV (three seats): one seat vacant

Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, San Marino and Spain.

Group V (three seats): one seat vacant following the resignation of a member

Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.