On 18 December 2020, the European Committee of Social Rights, which monitors compliance with the human rights enshrined in the European Social Charter, declared the Collective Complaint against the Czech Republic admissible.
FEANTSA had lodged a Collective Complaint against the Czech Republic in February 2020, requesting the Committee to find that the situation in the Czech Republic amounts to a violation of Article 16 of the European Social Charter, read alone and in the light of the non-discrimination clause contained in the Preamble of the 1961 Charter.
FEANTSA’s complaint concerns five main points:
• Ongoing threats to the security of tenure and risk of eviction for poor households, in particular from the Roma minority.
• Disproportionate reductions in housing supplements provided in the face of a manifest continuing need.
• Designation of some territorial areas as ineligible for certain forms of housing benefit.
• Intensification of social and racial discrimination, including racial segregation.
• Social control measures that have a negative impact on the effective exercise of housing rights, in particular the local residence permit requirements to which certain categories of persons do not have access.
In its decision on the admissibility, the Committee considered that the complaint fulfils the requirements set out in Article 4 of the Protocol to the European Social Charter Providing for a System of Collective Complaints and is thus to be declared admissible.
The European Committee of Social Right’s decision about admissibility is a clear sign that there are reasons for concern about the situation of housing rights in the Czech Republic.
The Czech government has been notified that the Collective Complaint has been declared admissible and, after the extension of the deadline has now until March 31 to submit comments on the merits of the complaint.
FEANTSA will then have an opportunity to respond to the comments made by the Czech government. Following these submissions in winter 2021-22, the European Committee on Social Rights will examine the complaint again and decide on the merits.
FEANTSA may have an opportunity to present its concerns at a hearing in Strasbourg.
FURTHER READING:
https://rm.coe.int/cc191casedoc1-en/16809cdf24
https://rm.coe.int/cc191casedoc2-en-gvt-s-observations-admissibility/16809fa65f
https://rm.coe.int/cc191casedoc3-en/1680a06f75
