Manifesto

TL;DR: The Declaration of Philadelphia and its impact on European labor and social law, promoting fundamental principles and rights at work, is essential to ensuring sustained progress and addressing poverty.

Abstract: 1) The economic and financial crisis and its anti-social consequences must be viewed in a broader context. Historically and universally, the lessons learned from the experiences of two world wars led the International Labour Organisation to adopt, in 1944, the Declaration of Philadelphia which explicitly stated that labour is not a commodity; freedom of expression and of association are essential to sustained progress; poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere. 2) At the European level, since World War II, the terms of this declaration have formed an essential foundation of European labour and social law and, at the same time, the implicit – and frequently explicit – starting point for construction of the EU’s fragile European Social Model. 3) In his address to the European Parliament on 14 September 2011, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia stated: ‘Respect for fundamental principles and rights at work is non-negotiable: not even in times of crisis when questions of fairness abound. This is particularly important in countries having to adopt austerity measures. We cannot use the crisis as an excuse to disregard internationally agreed labour standards.’ 4) At the G20 meeting of Labour and Employment Ministers on 26–27 September 2011 in Paris, ‘promoting the effective application of social and labour rights and ensuring respect for fundamental principles and rights at work’ constituted one of the key recommendations and was endorsed in the Declaration of the G20 Heads of State adopted at the Summit in Cannes on 3–4 November 2011 (G2