The member States of the
Council of Europe, signatory hereto,
Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is to achieve a greater
unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the
ideals and principles which are their common heritage and facilitating their
economic and social progress while respecting human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
Considering that the legal status of migrant workers who are nationals of
Council of Europe member States should be regulated so as to ensure that as
far as possible they are treated no less favourably than workers who are
nationals of the receiving State in all aspects of living and working
conditions;
Being resolved to facilitate the social advancement of migrant workers and
members of their families;
Affirming that the rights and privileges which they grant to each other's
nationals are conceded by virtue of the close association uniting the member
States of the Council of Europe by means of its Statute,
For the purpose of this
Convention, the term "migrant worker" shall mean a national of a
Contracting Party who has been authorised by another Contracting Party to
reside in its territory in order to take up paid employment.
This Convention shall not
apply to:
frontier workers;
artists, other
entertainers and sportsmen engaged for a short period and members of a
liberal profession;
seamen;
persons undergoing
training;
seasonal workers;
seasonal migrant workers are those who, being nationals of a
Contracting Party, are employed on the territory of another
Contracting Party in an activity dependent on the rhythm of the
seasons, on the basis of a contract for a specified period or for
specified employment;
workers, who are
nationals of a Contracting Party, carrying out specific work in the
territory of another Contracting Party on behalf of an undertaking
having its registered office outside the territory of that Contracting
Party.
The recruitment of
prospective migrant workers may be carried out either by named or by
unnamed request and in the latter case shall be effected through the
intermediary of the official authority in the State of origin if such an
authority exists and, where appropriate, through the intermediary of the
official authority of the receiving State.
The administrative costs of
recruitment, introduction and placing, when these operations are carried
out by an official authority, shall not be borne by the prospective
migrant worker.
Recruitment of prospective
migrant workers may be preceded by a medical examination and a vocational
test.
The medical examination and
the vocational test are intended to establish whether the prospective
migrant worker is physically and mentally fit and technically qualified
for the job offered to him and to make certain that his state of health
does not endanger public health.
Arrangements for the
reimbursement of expenses connected with medical examination and
vocational test shall be laid down when appropriate by bilateral
agreements, so as to ensure that such expenses do not fall upon the
prospective migrant worker.
A migrant worker to whom an
individual offer of employment is made shall not be required, otherwise
than on grounds of fraud, to undergo a vocational test except at the
employer's request.
Each Contracting Party shall
guarantee the following rights to migrant workers:
the right to leave the territory of the Contracting Party of which
they are nationals;
the right to admission to the
territory of a Contracting Party in order to take up paid employment after
being authorised to do so and obtaining the necessary papers.
These rights shall be subject
to such limitations as are prescribed by legislation and are necessary for
the protection of national security, public order, public health or
morals.
The papers required of the
migrant worker for emigration and immigration shall be issued as
expeditiously as possible free of charge or on payment of an amount not
exceeding their administrative cost.
Every migrant worker accepted
for employment shall be provided prior to departure for the receiving State
with a contract of employment or a definite offer of employment, either of
which may be drawn up in one or more of the languages in use in the State of
origin and in one or more of the languages in use in the receiving State.
The use of at least one language of the State of origin and one language of
the receiving State shall be compulsory in the case of recruitment by an
official authority or an officially recognised employment bureau.
The Contracting Parties shall
exchange and provide for prospective migrants appropriate information on
their residence, conditions of and opportunities for family reunion, the
nature of the job, the possibility of a new work contract being concluded
after the first has lapsed, the qualifications required, working and
living conditions (including the cost of living), remuneration, social
security, housing, food, the transfer of savings, travel, and on
deductions made from wages in respect of contributions for social
protection and social security, taxes and other charges. Information may
also be provided on the cultural and religious conditions in the receiving
State.
In the case of recruitment
through an official authority of the receiving State, such information
shall be provided, before his departure, in a language which the
prospective migrant worker can understand, to enable him to take a
decision in full knowledge of the facts. The translation, where necessary,
of such information into a language that the prospective migrant worker
can understand shall be provided as a general rule by the State of origin.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to adopt the appropriate steps to prevent misleading propaganda
relating to emigration and immigration.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to ensure, in the case of official collective recruitment, that
the cost of travel to the receiving State shall never be borne by the
migrant worker. The arrangements for payment shall be determined under
bilateral agreements, which may also extend these measures to families and
to workers recruited individually.
In the case of migrant
workers and their families in transit through the territory of one
Contracting Party en route to the receiving State, or on their return
journey to the State of origin, all steps shall be taken by the competent
authorities of the transit State to expedite their journey and prevent
administrative delays and difficulties.
Each Contracting Party shall
exempt from import duties and taxes at the time of entry into the
receiving State and of the final return to the State of origin and in
transit:
the personal effects and
movable property of migrant workers and members of their family
belonging to their household;
a reasonable quantity of
hand-tools and portable equipment necessary for the occupation to be
engaged in.
The exemptions referred to
above shall be granted in accordance with the laws or regulations in force
in the States concerned.
Each Contracting Party which
allows a migrant worker to enter its territory to take up paid employment
shall issue or renew a work permit for him (unless he is exempt from this
requirement), subject to the conditions laid down in its legislation.
However, a work permit issued
for the first time may not as a rule bind the worker to the same employer
or the same locality for a period longer than one year.
In case of renewal of the
migrant worker's work permit, this should as a general rule be for a
period of at least one year, in so far as the current state and
development of the employment situation permits.
Where required by national
legislation, each Contracting Party shall issue residence permits to
migrant workers who have been authorised to take up paid employment on
their territory under conditions laid down in this Convention.
The residence permit shall in
accordance with the provisions of national legislation be issued and, if
necessary, renewed for a period as a general rule at least as long as that
of the work permit. When the work permit is valid indefinitely, the
residence permit shall as a general rule be issued and, if necessary,
renewed for a period of at least one year. It shall be issued and renewed
free of charge or for a sum covering administrative costs only.
The provisions of this
Article shall also apply to members of the migrant worker's family who are
authorised to join him in accordance with Article 12 of this Convention.
If a migrant worker is no
longer in employment, either because he is temporarily incapable of work
as a result of illness or accident or because he is involuntarily
unemployed, this being duly confirmed by the competent authorities, he
shall be allowed for the purpose of the application of Article 25 of this
Convention to remain on the territory of the receiving State for a period
which should not be less than five months.
Nevertheless, no Contracting Party shall be bound, in the case provided
for in the above sub-paragraph, to allow a migrant worker to remain for a
period exceeding the period of payment of the unemployment allowance.
The residence permit, issued
in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article,
may be withdrawn:
for reasons of national
security, public policy or morals;
if the holder refuses,
after having been duly informed of the consequences of such refusal,
to comply with the measures prescribed for him by an official medical
authority with a view to the protection of public health;
if a condition essential
to its issue or validity is not fulfilled.
Each Contracting Party
nevertheless undertakes to grant to migrant workers whose residence
permits have been withdrawn, an effective right to appeal, in accordance
with the procedure for which provision is made in its legislation, to a
judicial or administrative authority.
After arrival in the
receiving State, migrant workers and members of their families shall be
given all appropriate information and advice as well as all necessary
assistance for their settlement and adaption.
For this purpose, migrant
workers and members of their families shall be entitled to help and
assistance from the social services of the receiving State or from bodies
working in the public interest in the receiving State and to help from the
consular authorities of their State or origin. Moreover, migrant workers
shall be entitled, on the same basis as national workers, to help and
assistance from the employment services. However, each Contracting Party
shall endeavour to ensure that special social services are available,
whenever the situation so demands, to facilitate or co-ordinate the
reception of migrant workers and their families.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to ensure that migrant workers and members of their families
can worship freely, in accordance with their faith; each Contracting Party
shall facilitate such worship, within the limit of available means.
The status of migrant workers
must not interfere with the recovery of sums due in respect of maintenance
to persons in the State of origin to whom they have maintenance
obligations arising from a family relationship, parentage, marriage or
affinity, including a maintenance obligation in respect of a child who is
not legitimate.
Each Contracting Party shall
take the steps necessary to ensure the recovery of sums due in respect of
such maintenance, making use as far as possible of the form adopted by the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
As far as possible, each
Contracting Party shall take steps to appoint a single national or
regional authority to receive and despatch applications for sums due in
respect of maintenance provided for in paragraph 1 above.
This Article shall not affect
existing or future bilateral or multilateral agreements.
The spouse of a migrant
worker who is lawfully employed in the territory of a Contracting Party
and the unmarried children thereof, as long as they are considered to be
minors by the relevant law of the receiving State, who are dependent on
the migrant worker, are authorised on conditions analogous to those which
this Convention applies to the admission of migrant workers and according
to the admission procedure prescribed by such law or by international
agreements to join the migrant worker in the territory of a Contracting
Party, provided that the latter has available for the family housing
considered as normal for national workers in the region where the migrant
worker is employed. Each Contracting Party may make the giving of
authorisation conditional upon a waiting period which shall not exceed
twelve months.
Any State may, at any time,
by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, which shall take effect one month after the date of receipt, make
the family reunion referred to in paragraph 1 above further conditional
upon the migrant worker having steady resources sufficient to meet the
needs of his family.
Any State may, at any time,
by declaration addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, which shall take effect one month after the date of its receipt,
derogate temporarily from the obligation to give the authorisation
provided for in paragraph 1 above, for one or more parts of its territory
which it shall designate in its declaration, on the condition that these
measures do not conflict with obligations under other international
instruments. The declarations shall state the special reasons justifying
the derogation with regard to receiving capacity.
Any State availing itself of this possibility of derogation shall keep the
Secretary General of the Council of Europe fully informed of the measures
which it has taken and shall ensure that these measures are published as
soon as possible. It shall also inform the Secretary General of the
Council of Europe when such measures cease to operate and the provisions
of the Convention are again being fully executed.
The derogation shall not, as a general rule, affect requests for family
reunion submitted to the competent authorities, before the declaration is
addressed to the Secretary General, by migrant workers already established
in the part of the territory concerned.
Each Contracting Party shall
accord to migrant workers, with regard to acess to housing and rents,
treatment not less favourable than that accorded to its own nationals,
insofar as this matter is covered by domestic laws and regulations.
Each Contracting Pary shall
ensure that the competent national authorities carry out inspections in
appropriate cases in collaboration with the respective consular authorites,
acting within their competence, to ensure that standards of fitness of
accomodation are kept up for migrant workers as for its own nationals.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to protect migrant workers against exploitation in respect of
rents, in accordance with its laws and regulations on the matter.
Each Contracting Party shall
ensure, by the means available to the competent national authorities, that
the housing of the migrant worker shall be suitable.
Migrant workers and members
of their families officially admitted to the territory of a Contracting
Party shall be entitled, on the same basis and under the same conditions
as national workers, to general education and vocation training and
retraining and shall be granted access to higher education according to
the general regulations governing admission to respective institutions in
the receiving State.
To promote access to general
and vocational schools and to vocational training centres, the receiving
State shall facilitate the teaching of its language or, if there are
several, one of its languages to migrant workers and members of their
families.
For the purpose of the
application of paragraphs 1 and 2 above, the granting of scholarships
shall be left to the discretion of each Contracting Party which shall make
efforts to grant the children of migrant workers living with their
families in the receiving State – in accordance with the provisions of
Article 12 of this Convention – the same facilities in this respect as
the receiving State's nationals.
The workers' previous
attainments, as well as diplomas and vocational qualifications acquired in
the State of origin, shall be recognised by each Contracting Party in
accordance with arrangements laid down in bilateral and multilateral
agreements.
The Contracting Parties
concerned, acting in close co-operation shall endeavour to ensure that the
vocational training and retraining schemes, within the meaning of this
Article, cater as far as possible for the needs of migrant workers with a
view to their return to their State of origin.
The Contracting Parties
concerned shall take actions by common accord to arrange, so far as
practicable, for the migrant worker's children, special courses for the
teaching of the migrant worker's mother tongue, to facilitate, inter alia,
their return to their State of origin.
In the matter of conditions
of work, migrant workers authorised to take up employment shall enjoy
treatment not less favourable than that which applies to national workers
by virtue of legislative or administrative provisions, collective labour
agreement or custom.
It shall not be possible to
derogate by individual contract from the principle of equal treatment
referred to in the foregoing paragraph.
Each Contracting Party shall
permit, according to the agreements laid down by its legislation, the
transfer of all or such parts of the earnings and savings of migrant
workers as the latter may wish to transfer.
This provision shall apply also to the transfer of sums due by migrant
workers in respect of maintenance. The transfer of sums due by migrant
workers in respect of maintenance shall on no account be hindered or
prevented.
Each Contracting Party shall
permit, under bilateral agreements or by other means, the transfer of such
sums as remain due to migrant workers when they leave the territory of the
receiving State.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to grant within its territory, to migrant workers and members
of their families, equality of treatment with its own nationals, in the
matter of social security, subject to conditions required by national
legislation and by bilateral or multilateral agreements already concluded
or to be concluded between the Contracting Parties concerned.
The Contracting Parties shall
moreover endeavour to secure to migrant workers and members of their
families the conservation of rights in course of acquisition and acquired
rights, as well as provision of benefits abroad, through bilateral and
multilateral agreements.
Each Contracting Party
undertakes to grant within its territory, to migrant workers and members of
their families who are lawfully present in its territory, social and medical
assistance on the same basis as nationals in accordance with the obligations
it has assumed by virtue of other international agreements and in particular
of the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance of 1953.
With regard to the prevention
of industrial accidents and occupational diseases and to industrial
hygiene, migrant workers shall enjoy the same rights and protection as
national workers, in application of the laws of a Contracting Party and
collective agreements and having regard to their particular situation.
A migrant worker who is
victim of an industrial accident or who has contracted an occupational
disease in the territory of the receiving State shall benefit from
occupational rehabilitation on the same basis as national workers.
Each Contracting Party shall
inspect or provide for inspection of the conditions of work of migrant
workers in the same manner as for national workers. Such inspection shall be
carried out by the competent bodies or institutions of the receiving State
and by any other authority authorised by the receiving State.
Each Contracting Party shall
take care, within the framework of its laws and, if need be, within the
framework of bilateral agreements, that steps are taken to provide all help
and assistance necessary for the transport to the State of origin of the
bodies of migrant workers deceased as the result of an industrial accident.
In the matter of earnings and
without predjudice to the provisions on double taxation contained in
agreements already concluded or which may in future be concluded between
Contracting Parties, migrant workers shall not be liable, in the territory
of a Contracting Party, to duties, charges, taxes or contributions of any
description whatsoever either higher or more burdensome than those imposed
on nationals in similar circumstances. In particular, they shall be
entitled to deductions or exemptions from taxes or charges and to all
allowances, including allowance for dependants.
The Contracting Parties shall
decide between themselves, by bilateral or multilateral agreements on
double taxation, what measures might be taken to avoid double taxation on
the earnings of migrant workers.
On the expiry of a work
contract concluded for a special period at the end of the period agreed on
and in the case of anticipated cancellation of such a contract or
cancellation of a work contract for an unspecified period, migrant workers
shall be accorded treatment not less favourable than that accorded to
national workers under the provisions of national legislation or
collective labour agreements.
In the event of individual or
collective dismissal, migrant workers shall receive the treatment
applicable to national workers under national legislation or collective
labour agreements, as regards the form and period of notice, the
compensation provided for in legislation or agreements or such as may be
due in cases of unwarranted cancellation of their work contracts.
If a migrant worker loses his
job for reasons beyond his control, such as redundancy or prolonged
illness, the competent authority of the receiving State shall facilitate
his re-employment in accordance with the laws and regulations of that
State.
To this end the receiving
State shall promote the measures necessary to ensure, as far as possible,
the vocational retraining and occupational rehabilitation of the migrant
worker in question, provided that he intends to continue in employment in
the State concerned afterwards.
Each Contracting Party shall
secure to migrant workers treatment not less favourable than that of its
own nationals in respect of legal proceedings. Migrant workers shall be
entitled, under the same conditions as nationals, to full legal and
judicial protection of their persons and property and of their rights and
interests; in particular, they shall have, in the same manner as
nationals, the right of access to the competent courts and administrative
authorities, in accordance with the law of the receiving State, and the
right to obtain the assistance of any person of their choice who is
qualified by the law of that State, for instance in disputes with
employers, members of their families or third parties. The rules of
private international law of the receiving State shall not be affected by
this Article.
Each Contracting Party shall
provide migrant workers with legal assistance on the same conditions as
for their own nationals and, in the case of civil or criminal proceedings,
the possibility of obtaining the assistance of an interpreter where they
cannot understand or speak the language used in court.
Each Contracting Party
recognises the right of migrant workers and of the members of their families
officially admitted to its territory to make use of employment services
under the same conditions as national workers subject to the legal
provisions and regulations and administrative practice, including conditions
of access, in force in that State.
Each Contracting Party shall
allow to migrant workers the right to organise for the protection of their
economic and social interests on the conditions provided for by national
legislation for its own nationals.
Each Contracting Party shall
facilitate as far as possible the participation of migrant workers in the
affairs of the undertaking on the same conditions as national workers.
Each Contracting Party shall,
as far as possible, take appropriate measures to assist migrant workers
and their families on the occasion of their final return to their State of
origin, and in particular the steps referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 of
Article 7 of this Convention. The provision of financial assistance shall
be left to the discretion of each Contracting Party.
To enable migrant workers to
know, before they set out on their return journey, the conditions on which
they will be able to resettle in their State of origin, this State shall
communicate to the receiving State, which shall keep available for those
who request it, information regarding in particular:
possibilities and
conditions of employment in the State of origin;
financial aid granted for
economic reintegration;
the maintenance of social
security rights acquired abroad;
steps to be taken to
facilitate the finding of accommodation;
equivalence accorded to
occupational qualifications obtained abroad and any tests to be passed
to secure their official recognition;
equivalence accorded to
educational qualifications, so that migrant workers' children can be
admitted to schools without down-grading.
No provision of this
Convention may be interpreted as justifying less favourable treatment than
that enjoyed by migrant workers under the national legislation of the
receiving State or under bilateral and multilateral agreements to which that
State is a Contracting Party.
The provisions of this
Convention shall not prejudice the provisions of the laws of the Contracting
Parties or of any bilateral or multilateral treaties, conventions,
agreements or arrangements, as well as the steps taken to implement them,
which are already in force, or may come into force, and under which more
favourable treatment has been, or would be, accorded to the persons
protected by the Convention.
A Consultative Committee
shall be set up within a year of the entry into force of this Convention.
Each Contracting Party shall
appoint a representative to the Consultative Committee. Any other member
State of the Council of Europe may be represented by an observer with the
right to speak.
The Consultative Committee
shall examine any proposals submitted to it by one of the Contracting
Parties with a view to facilitating or improving the application of the
Convention, as well as any proposal to amend it.
The opinions and
recommendations of the Consultative Committee shall be adopted by a
majority of the members of the Committee; however, proposals to amend the
Convention shall be adopted unanimously by the members of the Committee.
The opinions, recommendations
and proposals of the Consultative Committee referred to above shall be
addressed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which
shall decide on the action to be taken.
The Consultative Committee
shall be convened by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and
shall meet, as a general rule, at least once every two years and, in
addition, whenever at least two Contracting Parties or the Committee of
Ministers so requests. The committee shall also meet at the request of one
Contracting Party whenever the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 12 are
applied.
The Consultative Committee
shall draw up periodically, for the attention of the Committee of
Ministers, a report containing information regarding the laws and
regulations in force in the territory of the Contracting Parties in
respect of matters provided for in this Convention.
This Convention shall be open
to signature by the member States of the Council of Europe. It shall be
subject to ratification, acceptance or approval. Instruments of
ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe.
This Convention shall enter
into force on the first day of the third month following the date of the
deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
In respect of a signatory
State ratifying, approving or accepting subsequently, the Convention shall
enter into force on the first day of the third month following the date of
the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval.
Any State may, at the time of
signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification, acceptance or
approval or at any later date, by declaration to the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe, extend the application of this Convention to all or
any of the territories for whose international relations it is responsible
or on whose behalf it is authorised to give undertakings.
Any declaration made in
pursuance of the preceding paragraph may, in respect of any territory
mentioned in such declaration, be withdrawn. Such withdrawal shall take
effect six months after receipt by the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe of the declaration of withdrawal.
Any Contracting Party may, at
the time of signature or when depositing its instrument of ratification,
acceptance or approval, make one or more reservations which may relate to
no more than nine articles of Chapters II to IV inclusive, other than
Articles 4, 8, 9, 12, 16, 17, 20, 25, 26.
Any Contracting Party may, at
any time, wholly or partly withdraw a reservation it has made in
accordance with the foregoing paragraph by means of a declaration
addressed to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, which shall
become effective as from the date of its receipt.
Each Contracting Party may
denounce this Convention by notification addressed to the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe, which shall take effect six months after
the date of its receipt.
No denunciation may be made
within five years of the date of the entry into force of the Convention in
respect of the Contracting Party concerned.
Each Contracting Party which
ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe shall cease to be a Party
to this Convention six months after the date on which it loses its quality
as a member of the Council of Europe.
The Secretary General of the
Council of Europe shall notify the member States of the Council of:
any signature;
the deposit of any
instrument of ratification, acceptance or approval;
any notification received
in respect of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 12;
any date of entry into
force of this Convention in accordance with Article 34 thereof;
any declaration received in
pursuance of the provisions of Article 35;
any reservation made in
pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 36;
withdrawal of any
reservation carried out in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 2 of
Article 36;
any notification received
in pursuance of the provisions of Article 37 and the date on which
denunciation takes place.
In witness whereof, the
undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.
Done at Strasbourg, this 24th day of November 1977, in English and in
French, both texts being equally authoritative, in a single copy which shall
remain deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary
General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each of
the signatory States.
