The protection of economic and social rights, as human rights protected by constitutions and international/regional instruments, has suffered a significant setback in recent years of crisis in Europe. In this context, the European Social Charter, the sister treaty of the European Convention on Human Rights within the Council of Europe, has recently begun to appear at a pan-European legal and political level as a reference point for addressing many of the challenges of the "social issue" of our time.

Specifically, through the increased recognition of its renewed potential for the internal enforcement of economic and social rights across various jurisdictions, the European Social Charter, as interpreted by its supervisory body, the European Committee of Social Rights, has given a new impetus for reconsideration. The main weakness of the Treaty is its injustice and lack of enforceability in national courts.

In light of the above developments, this book provides a systematic, analytical, and – to some extent – comparative analysis of the position and impact of the European Social Charter and the declarations of the European Committee of Social Rights on a national level regarding selected parties' agreements (France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain), with particular emphasis on the judicial enforcement of the Treaty by both higher and lower national courts.

Thus, the study has drew several relevant conclusions regarding the potential of the European Social Charter to effectively protect economic and social rights at the national level, against the backdrop of its revitalization process at the end of the 1990s and the renewed interest in invoking and enforcing it within the judicial arena.