Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-15-Speech-1-072"
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"en.19991115.6.1-072"2
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"I am sure that the issue that has been raised today merits detailed consideration by the Commission and by the Union as a whole.
As we have just seen from the previous debate, the Commission is already active in several fields involving children, though competence for action in the majority of relevant areas concerning children remains with the Member States.
Children constitute a particularly vulnerable group. For example, for a number of years the Community has been providing support to countries in which there is a particular problem with regard to the economic exploitation, abandonment and prostitution of children through special projects aimed at fostering social assistance, protection, well-being, reintegration and education.
In 1999 to mark the tenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, dramatic priority was given to children’s rights under the European initiative for democracy and human rights, Chapter B.7-7 of the European Union budget.
The Commission is already implementing the Daphne Initiative to combat violence against young persons and children, and this will be succeeded next year, as we have just seen from the previous debate, by the Daphne Programme 2000-2003. Through the STOP programme and through its work in the fields of police and judicial cooperation, the Commission is actively fighting the sexual exploitation of children including child pornography on the Internet.
In the field of police cooperation and of the third pillar, the Commission now has the power of joint initiative with the Member States and is actively pursuing the fight against the sexual exploitation of children. In January a codecision was adopted establishing an action plan to promote the safer use of the Internet thereby protecting children from violence and pornography. It followed a recommendation in 1998 on the protection of minors and human dignity. The Commission is now implementing these measures. In May the Commission adopted a communication on the implementation of measures to combat child sex tourism and it has now selected a number of actions to be co-financed in this field.
The Commission is also undertaking action in the social field and the educational field with a view to improving the quality of life of children and opportunities for their development and education. The suggestion that sometimes has been put forward to establish a children's unit within the Commission is one that I recognise will require study in particular to ensure that full account is taken of the human and financial resources that are at present available.
The Commission will also give consideration as to the idea of publishing a communication on children to mark the tenth anniversary of the Convention. This will clearly take a little time. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this matter in the plenary session of the European Parliament. The Commission will study attentively the reports of this debate and will take all appropriate action to meet the concerns of the Parliament in order not only to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Convention but also to improve concrete policies in order to achieve the goals set by this Convention."@en1
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