Iniziative per I giovani

• Author: Franco Frattini
• Pages: 135-147

Page 135

Concours «L’Union européenne et les droits de l’enfant»,Bruxelles, 2006

Le droit à la protection et aux soins, le droit d’exprimer librement ses opinions, le droit à ce que ses intérêts supérieurs soient pris en considération à tout moment, le droit d’avoir des contacts directs avec ses deux parents… tous les droits dont les enfants bénéficient au sein de l’Union européenne sont énumérés à l’article 24 de la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne.

Toutefois, ces droits ne sont réels que si on les connaît, si on les fait valoir et si on les défend.

C’est pourquoi j’invite tous les jeunes intéressés au sein de l’Union européenne à participer au concours «L’ Union européenne et les droits de l’enfant».

J’espère que les jeunes apprécieront de travailler en équipe sur ce thème et qu’ils prendront ainsi conscience de leurs droits.

Les enfants et les adolescents de 10 à 18 ans sont invités à créer une affiche incluant un logo et illustrant l’idée de la protection, du respect et de la promotion des droits de l’enfant au sein de l’Union européenne.

Après une première sélection au niveau national et une cérémonie de remise des prix organisée dans chaque État membre au début du mois de mai 2006, j’inviterai les équipes lauréates du premier prix dans leur pays respectif à me rencontrer à Bruxelles à l’occasion d’une cérémonie européenne de remise des prix et d’une visite des institutions européennes.

N’hésitez donc pas à vous rendre sur le site Internet du concours www.eurojeune.net

Bonne chance et à bientôt à Bruxelles!

Page 136

@Un forum europeo per i diritti dei minori per guardare al futuro, Bruxelles, 4 giugno 2007

“Guardo con soddisfazione al Forum odierno. Minori e futuro sono temi intrecciati tra loro. I giovani ci spingono a fare fronte al futuro e ai problemi della nostra società, dalle sfide demografiche, alla criminalità, ai cambiamenti climatici. Questo primo Forum verterà sulla pedopornografia e sulla pedofilia, fenomeni che richiedono interventi urgenti. Dal 1997 al 2005 i siti Internet che propongono materiale pedopornografico sono aumentati del 1500%. Le nuove tecnologie lanciano nuove sfide, per esempio, come guidare e proteggere i più giovani quando sono proprio loro a conoscere le tecnologie informatiche meglio dei genitori.”¹

@European forum on the Rights of the Child, Berlin, 4 June 2007

Children are the citizens² of Europe today, and tomorrow. Children make up around one third of the EU population. Your attendance and support today at this, the first Children’s forum shows that they are important.

Page 137

Today I will outline that children and the future are interconnected. We cannot think of one without the other. We are not just talking of a future for ‘them’. But, a future for us all. I will outline the positive role children can play and our duty to protect them.

Children must be at the forefront of our minds when we discuss policy. Considered from the start. Not just affected by the consequences of our decisions. They must be fully involved. Their views are valid. Indeed I will experience this first hand later today when I am interviewed by two children from the ZDF network.

Today’s forum is a vital step towards placing children at the centre. Thank you, Minister Zypries for hosting this event together with the Commission and your unfailing support for children’s rights. Thank you all for attending and showing your support. Together we can promote and protect children’s rights.

In previous generations children were not distinguished from adults. Today’s concept of childhood did not exist. Looking at the way children were represented in art before the 17th and 18th Century illustrates this. Namely children were painted as small adults. This signifies how they were viewed – as miniature adults. Their work and play were not separate from that of adults. Small children would become miniature adults without passing through the stages of childhood which we think about today. This had consequences for their socialisation. They learnt from the adults surrounding them, the family members.

The increasing role of formal education from the end of the 17th Century onwards had implications for childhood and socialisation. Children and adults were separated. It is during this period that we can identify a specific attachment to childhood. This is also linked to changes in child mortality rates, medical advances and contraception. We can detect the beginnings of childhood as a special period.

Today even within the EU we do not all view children in a uniform manner. But most view the child as different from adults. This affects how we interact with children. We pay attention to the period of childhood. Sometimes, by limiting children’s freedom or responsibility in the name of protecting them, we see childhood as a special period.

To be promoted and protected. But, in doing so we must involve children. Our protection must not always be to exclude them. There are 2.2 billion children worldwide – this is a lot of voices to exclude. We must move children to the centre of our thinking.

The recent EU enlargement has brought the total EU population to some 490 million, but the number of people living in the EU is set to decline in the coming decades and by 2050 a third will be over 65 years of age. The need for workers in Page 138 many Member States is already evident for example in agriculture, construction and health.

My European Commission colleague Vladimir Spidla, last month stressed that support for families is key to helping EU member States meet demographic challenges. Very low birth rates are a key concern in many Member States. Indeed studies show that Europeans would like to have more children. So what is the problem? Many people, especially women, must make the difficult choice between family life and a successful career. The EU is committed to supporting the conditions for both. This includes financial support to cope with the costs of raising a family, quality child care services and flexible working time. Countries, such as the Nordic countries, with easy access to childcare facilities have higher rates of fertility and employment rates for women.

My concern is not for children as the future workforce, but rather the need to value our children. This extends back to before the child is born, to creating positive conditions. These conditions are a factor in enabling us to then think what we can do for (and with) children and young people.

Therefore children are important firstly as they are, literally, the future. Without them the demographic situation in the EU will continue to be a concern. The effects will not just be economic but social and cultural also. Furthermore as they are the future, children help us face up to the future. From the expectant parents who paint the baby’s room, set up a child’s bank account and discuss schools, to the responsibility that we in society as a whole have to lay the ground work for future generations. Perhaps no more clearly is this responsibility shown than in climate change. Considering children’s rights, needs and concerns must force us to tackle head on climate change. If temperatures rise, drinking water decreases and the sun’s rays get stronger it is our children who will suffer alongside the planet. We must face up to the future. Now the main concept underpinning Commission action is to place children’s concerns at the heart policy making. Previously we saw political developments which, sometimes, had consequences for children. Now the European strategy places, above all, the rights of the child as the priority and strives to integrate this concept into all EU policies.

Placing children at the centre is not new. EU policy is built on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989 [nineteen eighty-nine]). The Convention places children’s interests at its core: Stating “…the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration”. All Member States have ratified the Convention and are bound to respect these obligations.

In June 2006, we adopted a communication ‘Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child”. The communication and today’s forum, are a first step towards an EU strategy. But they will guide us in defining the strategy. For this I look very much to you for your participation and suggestions.

We must be concerned with ALL children, without distinction or category. Of course certain children require...