FOLLOW-UP OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS

21/06/2007: The Intergroup Family and Protection of Childhood met today in the EP in Strasbourg, under the Presidency of Mrs Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, to discuss the follow-up of the Commission Communication on a Future Strategy on the Rights of the Child. The meeting aimed in particular at exchanging views with the draftsperson, Mrs Angelilli, in view of the preparation of the Parliament report. The meeting, during which rapporteurs from different parliamentary Commissions expressed their views, reunited many interested parliamentarians, as well as representatives from the Council of Europe and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou underlined that a number of initiatives have been undertaken after the adoption of the Commission Communication and especially the nomination of a coordinator in the European Commission for the rights of the child, the establishment of a telephone line for missing children and the organisation of the first forum on the rights of the child which took place in Berlin on 4 June. She regretted that both the hearing organised in the European Parliament in April as well as the Commission Communication essentially focused on the child as a victim and not as a holder of rights and obligations, and insisted on the importance to recognise and promote the role of the family as the fundamental cell for the better development and protection of the child.

The rapporteur of the DROI Committee, Mrs Belohorska, drew the attention of the participants to specific problems which should be addressed in the Parliament's report and the Commission's works. Among these priorities, she mentioned the registration of births that is still lacking in certain regions of the world, the protection of children's health, including mental health, the treatment of refugee children, as well as the involvement of children in military conflicts. She finally indicated that a better control of arms sales could put an end to these situations, where children are both participants and victims.

Mrs Angelilli underlined that the target of the strategy was not only to prevent the abuse towards children, but also to promote their rights as independent legal personalities and as citizens. To this effect, the participation of children in the decision-making process should be evaluated. Furthermore, Mrs Angelilli expressed her concern on the increasing phenomenon of child pornography, especially through the internet, and mentioned in this regard that an internet site is organising a 'love boy day'. She recalled that the EU should combat these crimes, especially through the exchange of information between Member States on convictions, a better coordination of actions at national level and insisted on an increased use of Community programmes, such as DAPHNE. Finally, Mrs Angelilli indicated that in order to cope with the absence of a specific legal base at Community level on the issue of the rights of the child, Commissioner Frattini proposed that the Member States should establish a coordinator at national level and that they should establish a network of exchange of good practices.

In the debate that followed, the participants expressed their concerns over the effectiveness of community actions, given the absence of a legal base for the rights of the child.

At the end of the meeting, Mrs Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou expressed her hope that the strategy will be implemented through a programme of global actions, in which the civil society will have an active role.

BETTER CONCILIATION OF FAMILY LIFE WITH A PERIOD OF STUDIES OR TRAINING

19/06/2007: The plenary session of the European Parliament approved by a large majority the report of Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP entitled "Towards a regulatory framework for measures to reconcile family life and a period of studies for young women in the EU".

The report, which was unanimously adopted on the 5th of June by the Women's Rights Committee, contains several recommendations which aim to enable young people to reconcile their period of studies or training with family responsibilities, maternity or paternity leave, or in situations of care for dependent persons such as disabled or elderly people.

The report underlines that the later achievement of the different stages of life (studies, work, family) is responsible, amongst others, for Europe's demographic decline.

It encourages the Commission and the Member States to promote policies for the conciliation of a period of studies or training and family life and to provide interested young people with the resources that correspond to their needs.

It invites Member States to propose low-cost social security schemes for students and trainees which could be extended to their dependents as well as to facilitate the provision of bank loans for students and to reduce or suppress the taxation of young people who take up family responsibilities in parallel with their studies, training or professional activity.

The report regrets that all the Member States have not yet complied with the Barcelona objectives on childcare facilities and encourages the creation of such structures within universities or professional institutes. As far as older children are concerned, the report encourages Member States to provide students with good quality and low-cost care facilities.

It recommends the establishment of a national certification system which would enable the identification of Higher Education Institutions which offer possibilities for the conciliation of studies and family life.

The report also invites the Member States and social partners to facilitate lifelong learning and its conciliation with family and professional life. It calls for the suppression of all restrictions to complementary paid work activities for students as long as the amounts received do not exceed the threshold set by each Member State.

Finally it calls on Member States to examine whether family responsibilities are a factor of abandonment of studies, especially for young women.

CELEBRATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE FAMILY

16/05/2007: The European Parliament joined the celebrations for the International Day of the Family in the framework of a meeting organised on 15 May by Marie Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou MEP. This meeting, which was preceded by a press conference, gathered MEPs, international experts as well as family NGO representatives, in order to address two important issues for families: the education of children regarding the media and the financial situation of families.

Dr Ted Baehr, Director of Movie Guide Magazine (USA) and an internationally renowned expert, was a key speaker at this event during which he addressed the issue of the impact of the media on children. Dr Baehr presented alarming figures which demonstrate the addiction of children to the media and the effect of the latter on the living habits of families: US statistics show that children devote over 63,000 hours per year to the media compared to 11,000 hours for school. Parents only discuss two minutes per day with their children. Dr Baehr underlined the fact that the adoption of a selective behaviour regarding media content relies greatly on the participation and responsibility of parents who must assume their educational role. He also mentioned the importance of establishing an ethical code to which movie companies could subscribe in order to ensure the quality of their productions from an ethical and family perspective. Finally, Dr Baehr stressed that according to recent statistics, movie productions that convey moral values are particularly successful among the public and are economically more profitable.

Intervening on the topic of the financial situation of families, Mr Laszlo Marki, Vice-President of the European Large Families Confederation, recalled that 16% of the EU's population is threatened by poverty and underlined the importance of providing financial support to families given that the cost of life is constantly increasing. He then presented a call to the European Commission, supported by a coalition of European family NGOs, for a reduced VAT rate on products and services for children. Mr Marki reminded participants that the European Commission, in the framework of its action towards family-friendly policies, committed itself to finding a legal base in order to include nappies among the products that could benefit from a reduced VAT rate.

MEPs expressed their support for the proposal of the family NGOs and committed to promoting it at the European Commission and among their respective governments in order to contribute to the creation of the necessary conditions for demographic renewal. Mrs Panayotopoulos - Cassiotou stated that the success of such an initiative would constitute a strong and symbolic message of the interest of the EU for families and children in Europe.