MEMBER OF

Our Network

The A.N.E.S.C. is a non profit organisation of academics and other persons who wish to contribute to its aim.

A.N.E.S.C. – ACADEMIC NETWORK ON THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL CHARTER AND SOCIAL RIGHTS

ANESC is a non-profit network that brings together sholars and other committed experts who share a common interest in advancing social rights. United by a belief in the transformative potential of law and scholarship, its members contribute their expertise and experience in support of the Network’s objectives.

The Network’s mission is to promote the European Social Charter and the broader framework of social rights protection in Europe, while situating these developments in dialogue with experiences and practices from other continents. In doing so, ANESC seeks to foster comparative perspectives and cross-regional learning on social justice and human dignity.

To this end, the Network undertakes and supports a wide range of initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of the European Social Charter and related instruments, and at strengthening their effective application and enforcement—both within the Council of Europe and across its member states.

ANESC’s activities are carried out primarily through:

• education and training initiatives;
• research projects and publications;
• the provision of legal expertise; and
• contributions to national and international judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings, in particular through interventions in an amicus curiae capacity.

The Network is a member of the Open Council of Europe Academic Networks (O.C.E.A.N.), through which it actively engages with a broader community of scholars working on Council of Europe standards and mechanisms.

 

HISTORY

The ANESC was established at the initiative of the Secretariat of the European Social Charter and officially launched at a meeting held at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 2 May 2006.
In its initial phase, ANESC operated as an informal academic network, bringing together scholars from several European universities working on the European Social Charter and social rights. For two to three years, the Network functioned without legal personality, relying on the voluntary engagement of its members.

Among the founders of ANESC were Jean-François Akandji-Kombé, Mark Bell, Gregor Chatton, Olivier De Schutter, Luis Jimena Quesada, and Gerard Quinn, several of whom remain active members today.
From the outset, the Network developed a strong academic and practical profile, organising training activities for trade unions and non-governmental organisations, launching a student moot court competition, and conducting comparative and international research on social rights, their justiciability, national implementation, and their relationship with European Union social law.

After a period of reduced activity, the Network was reinvigorated in 2012, beginning with the establishment of its first national section in Italy. This relaunch prompted a decision to provide ANESC with a formal legal structure.
On 29 November 2013, the Constitutive Assembly of ANESC was held in Paris, where the Articles of Association were adopted. ANESC became a non-profit association governed by Articles 21 to 79-III of the French Civil Code applicable in the departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle. Its headquarters are located at the Maison des Associations, 1a place des Orphelins, Strasbourg. The creation of ANESC was officially published in the Affiches Moniteur, No. 45 of 6 June 2014 (No. 7084).

At the Constitutive Assembly, Professor Jean-François Akandji-Kombé was elected General Coordinator. He was succeeded on 15 October 2016 by Professor Giovanni Guiglia, who served two consecutive mandates. On 30 December 2022, Dr Cristina Sâmboan was elected to this role. She was succeeded by the current General Coordinator, Dr Stefano Angeleri, who began his three-year mandate in January 2026. Former general coordinators hold the title of Honorary General Coordinators.
ANESC’s Honorary Members are: Tekin Akillioglu (Turkey), Nikitas Aliprantis (Greece), Jean-Michel Belorgey (France), Julia Iliopoulos-Strangas (Greece), and Jean Koukiades (Greece).

 

ORGANISATION OF ANESC

ANESC is a non-profit academic association, composed primarily of members affiliated with academic institutions, while also welcoming non-academic professionals committed to advancing social rights.

While all ANESC members participate in the Annual General Assembly, the Network’s daily operations are managed by a Coordination Committee (and a Coordination Council), alongside its national sections. To date, ANESC has established national sections across several Council of Europe member states. Each national section is coordinated by one or more National Coordinators, elected by the members of that section.

The Coordination Committee is the executive body of the Network and represents ANESC externally through the General Coordinator. It is composed of:
• one General Coordinator
• two Deputy General Coordinators
• one Secretary
• one Deputy Secretary
• one Treasurer

The Coordination Council defines the Network’s strategic guidelines and approves rules governing both ANESC and its national sections. It is composed of the members of the Coordination Committee and the National Coordinators.
The Council elects the Coordination Committee for a renewable term of three years, renewable once.

 

MEMBERSHIP

ANESC currently brings together nearly 200 members from 18 European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Members are organised into ten national sections (Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland/UK, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Turkey). Countries with fewer members are grouped under the “Others” section. Additional national sections may be established in the future.

Members include academics specialising in social law, constitutional law, international law, labour law, and related fields, as well as judges, lawyers, and other professionals engaged in socioeconomic rights protection.

 

MISSIONS

ANESC’s mission is dual: to promote the European Social Charter and other European instruments protecting social rights, and to enhance their effective implementation. To this end, the Network engages in education and training, research and publication, expert advice and advocacy, participation in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, including as amicus curiae.

 

SNAPSHOT OF PAST ACTIVITIES (2014–2017)

Between 2014 and 2017, ANESC developed a rich programme of academic and policy-oriented activities, including:

  • contributions to high-level conferences on the European Social Charter (Turin 2014, Brussels 2015) and in the Forum on social rights in Europe, (Turin 2016).
  • sustained dialogue with the European Committee of Social Rights;
  • training sessions for NGOs on the collective complaints procedure;
  • participation in judicial, academic, and policy forums across Europe;
  • organisation of international congresses and participation of national sections reps in scientific conferences, for instance:
    • Conference organised by the Portuguese Section:“Crisis and the Impact of European Legislation on Social Rights within National Legal Orders”, Porto (Portugal), 15–16 April 2016.
    • Scientific Day organised by the Greek Section:“Fundamental Social Rights in Europe and Elsewhere”, Thessaloniki (Greece), 20 April 2016.
    • Conference organised by the French Section:“Economic Crisis and Social Rights: A Weakened Standard of Protection?”, Paris (France), 13–14 October 2016.
    • Participation in the Conference on the Italian contribution to the European system of social rights protection, organised by the Institute for International Legal Studies (National Research Council) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Revised European Social Charter, Rome (Italy), 3 November 2016.
    • International Study Day:“International Treaties, the Social State and Autonomous Communities”, Valencia (Spain), 18 November 2016.
    • Participation in the Workshop:“The European Social Charter and the European Pillar of Social Rights”, organised by the European Committee of Social Rights, Strasbourg (France), 8 December 2016.
    • Participation in the Conference:“Social Rights in Today’s Europe: The Role of Domestic and European Courts”, organised by the Supreme Court of Cyprus in cooperation with the Council of Europe, Nicosia (Cyprus), 24 February 2017.
    • Participation in the Conference:“The Case Law of the European Committee of Social Rights and the Indivisibility of Human Rights”, organised by the University of Milan, Milan (Italy), 15 May 2017.
    • International Study Day, organised by the Spanish Section:“The European Social Charter as the Fundamental Basis of Regional Social Policies in Europe”, Valencia (Spain), 16 November 2017.

 

ONGOING ENGAGEMENT

ANESC participates annually in the work of the Drafting Group on Social Rights (CDDH-SOC) of the Council of Europe, as well as in periodic coordination meetings with members of the Council of Europe’s Department of Social Rights. ANESC members are advancing the publication of the eight-volume Commentary on the European Social Charter (Brill, 2022–ongoing) and organise an annual moot court competition. In parallel, the Network’s national sections continue to carry out research, publish scholarly work, and organise webinars and conferences and training activities, particularly for judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and other practitioners engaged in the protection of social rights.