§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the United Kingdom has ratified the European social charter of the Council of Europe; if he will list the member states of the Council of Europe which have ratified the charter; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe United Kingdom ratified the European social charter of the Council of Europe on 11 July 1962 and was the first state to do so. Since then, the charter has been ratified by Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. The United Kingdom regards the charter as an important statement of 709W economic and social principles which recognises that the same obligations can be met through a diversity of systems and practices.