Rights of the child: Commission gathers input how to best protect the most
vulnerable from violence
Which are the most effective measures to combat violence against children?
What are the biggest challenges faced by national child protection systems?
How can the EU support national child protection systems?
To answer these questions, the European Commission has today kicked off an
online public consultation to help Member States develop integrated and
effective child protection systems.
The input will result in EU guidance providing information on EU legislation
and policies relevant to these systems.
It will clarify where the EU can support national child protection systems,
and showcase good practices in looking after children in cross-border as well as
in national contexts.
Any individual or organisation with an interest in child protection can
participate in the consultation online until 3 July.
"The EU has the responsibility to keep the most vulnerable in our society
Three years after we first presented the EU Agenda for the rights of the
child, words have turned into action:
the Commission adopted laws to better protect children who have become
victims of crime or who are suspects in criminal proceedings.
We have acted to ensure that the missing children hotline is working all over
Europe and we have trained guardians and public authorities who are in close
contact with unaccompanied minors.
Now is the time to move up a gear and make sure all EU and national policies
support child-friendly protection systems," said Vice-President Viviane Reding,
the EU Justice Commissioner.
"These systems can only work in the interest of the child if they ensure that
everyone dealing with children – in education, health, welfare, justice, civil
society and the community – works together to create a protective environment
for all children.
With today's consultation we want to achieve just that.
The best interests of the child must always come first."
Within the EU, child protection systems are primarily the responsibility of
each Member State.
However the EU does have a mandate to establish common rules in areas where
children’s rights come into play, such as their rights in criminal proceedings,
free movement within the EU, asylum or trafficking.
The EU can also play a role when a child's safety involves more than one
country, for example when an unaccompanied child moves from one country to
another, or when a child goes missing.
As the Commission seeks input on how to best improve national child
protection systems, it also takes stock of progress made under the EU's Agenda
for the rights of the child which was adopted in February 2011 (IP/11/156).
Three years down the line, the Commission has successfully delivered on the
11 priority actions in areas such as child-friendly justice, protecting children
when they are vulnerable, shielding children from violence, and child
Following Commission action, all of these measures have now largely been put
in place (see Annex 1).
The consultation launched today on child protection systems will gather input
so that the EU can, by the end of 2014, issue guidance to Member States in this
area building on the results achieved in the course of implementation of the EU
Agenda for the Rights of the Child.
The guidance will take stock of the various existing EU instruments which may
affect the protection of the rights of children and suggest how EU countries can
better use or implement those instruments as part of their child protection
It will cover all forms of violence as determined by the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, in particular Article 19 (the right to protection from all
forms of violence).
In the EU, one in four children live in poverty and are at the greatest risk
children make up one quarter of new asylum seekers every year,
250 000 cases of missing children are reported every year;
children make up 15% of identified victims of trafficking, and more than one
million children live in institutional care across Europe.