ECPAT and EUROPE
Katlijn Declercq and Theo Noten
Focal Point to the European Institutions
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
Thematic approach
• Trafficking of children
• CSEC
• Child rights
• Also sex offenders, unaccompanied minors, working with the private sector, EU external relations and
CR, ....
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
Institutional approach
• European Union ( Brussels .....)
– Commission and commissioners
– Parliament
– Council
– Presidency and national delegations
• Europol:
• NATO parliament
• CoE : Intensive work done in the Council of Europe on the CoE convention of trafficking and the
convention on sexual exploitation .(Ratification/ monitoring)
• OSCE:
• ......
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
• ECPAT don’t has the means neither the will to copy the more ‘traditional’ form of lobbying ( the
Brussels offices)
• ECPAT tries to convince and show his strength by presenting well funded positions and interventions.
• The content combined with sustained presence at the most important meetings makes ECPAT also in
this field a respected reference.
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
•Priority is working together with other NGO’s without loosing own agenda
•The starting point of the interventions of the work is always the child rights perspective. In all
interventions a lot of emphasis was made on the importance of the respect for children’s rights.
•Lobby work is teamwork
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
• ECPAT Europe is as strong and as week as his weakest and strongest national group. The main accent
of the lobby effort stays at the national level. A national group benefits at national level, politicians feel
the back up by a European network. European lobby work is only effective if there exist an European
network.
• Need to increase the knowledge of the membership on how this European institutions work, what
existent legal instruments are important issues on the agenda of these institutions.
• National ECPAT’s have good contact at the national levels but at the European level a more systematic
and professional input is still needed.
1. Strategy in lobbying the European Institutions
Results: ECPAT respected player on the European field
• Teamwork within ECPAT: Expert group (Muirrean), Rep on the Board (Theo), International secretariat, National
groups, European coordination, Focal point, ….
• Teamwork with ECPAT to lobby the EP, the Commission and the Council, NGO’s coordination in two groups:
– La Strada, Save the Children, ECPAT, Terre des Hommes, Amnesty International, Churches’
Commission for Migrants in Europe, for the issue of Trafficking
– ECPAT, Missing Children Europe, ENACSO, NSPCC and Save the Children for CSEC
– Declaration, statement, research, lobby efforts, information sessions, actions and expert meetings,
national experts, ….
• ECPAT is seen as an expert by the EU Institutions
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
EUROPEAN UNION:
Before LISBON
• First communication in 1996 on child sex tourism and CSEC ( after WC I)
• Tampere Council in 1999 called on action against Human trafficking and SEC, putting the subject on the
top of the political agenda
• Framework decisions :
• COUNCIL FRAMEWORK DECISION of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings
(2002/629/JHA) and the council decision of 2009
• COUNCIL FRAMEWORK DECISION of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation of
children and child pornography (2004/68/JHA)
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
After LISBON
Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union refers to Trafficking in Human
beings and offences against children : in articles 83-79 refers to trafficking in Human beings and sexual
exploitation of women and children.
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
After LISBON
• The legislature of the European Union is principally composed of the European Parliament and the
Council of the European Union. Competencies in scrutinizing and amending legislation are usually
divided equally between the two, while the power to initiate laws is held by the European Commission.
National parliaments also have a minor delaying power.
• Draft proposal from the commission Council decision
• Proposal to the Parliament, Parliamentary discussion in commissions (LIBE, FEMM, hearings ….)
Vote and national law
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
After LISBON
• European legislation will no longer need to be approved unanimously by the EU Council of Ministers
(i.e. national governments). Instead, it will be adopted by a majority of Member States at the Council,
together with the European Parliament. A single country will not be able to block a proposal.
• Implementation at national level will also be improved. The Commission will be able to monitor the
way in which Member States apply EU legislation. If it finds that EU countries violate the rules, it will
be in a position to refer the case to the European Court of Justice.
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
After LISBON
• All previous Framework Decisions approbation by the Council, by the Parliament. They become Directives.
The Commission redrafted the framework Decisions relating to CSEC and Trafficking.
• Presented to the European Parliament and the Council for approval
» A DIRECTIVE of april 2011 on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and
protecting victims
» PROPOSAL FOR A DIRECTIVE of 29 March 2010 on combating sexual abuse, sexual exploitation
of children and child pornography
• The first one has already been approved by the Council, but both have to be approved by the European
Parliament.
•
2. What has been done - The Agenda of Europe?
a new EU Directive ANTI-TRAFFICKING ,
which covers action on different fronts:
2. What has been done-The Agenda of Europe?
NGO statement and recommendations to the European Parliament
(10th June 2010)
• An integrated and holistic approach needs to address migratory status
• Non-prosecution or non-application of penalties to trafficked persons
• Combating trafficking (opt-out on extra-territorial jurisdiction should not be allowed)
• Protection of the rights of all trafficked persons (broader review of the residence status of all trafficked
persons, mechanism and resources for the protection of those who are victims, but not witnesses)
2. What has been done-The Agenda of Europe?
• Assistance and support to trafficked children (independent qualified guardian)
• Prevention (development of preventative measures aimed at groups vulnerable to trafficking and
exploitation such as migrant workers, address the root causes of trafficking, such as poverty, gender
inequality and discrimination)
• National Rapporteurs or equivalent measures (need to be independent bodies, creation of a European
anti-trafficking coordinator)
2. What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
2. What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
• Include unreal characters (images, cartoons, etc.) within the concept of child pornography
• Include instigation, aiding and abetting, and preparatory acts for offences of this kind
• The length of the sentences
• The criminalisation of intentional access to child pornography by computerised means
• The extension of territorial jurisdiction
• The blocking of websites with child pornography content as a complementary measure to the efforts to
eliminate the source content
• Assessing and offering rehabilitation programmes to the perpetrators of these crimes
2. What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
CHILD RIGHTS
One of our core issues, the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, came back onto the EU agenda as the
main theme of the fifth European Forum on the Rights of Child held in Brussels.
However, the message given was that the upcoming strategy may not cover external policy,only internal EU
issues. It was also mentioned that
another complimentary strategy may be on its way on the external side, once the institutional rearrangements
from the Lisbon Treaty are settled, but no firm commitments were made.
What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
CHILD RIGHTS
ECPAT will continue to advocate and push for a comprehensive
EU strategy. The European Forum gathered a relevant group of EU decision makers, including Viviane
Reding, Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, as well as various international UN, Council of Europe and
member state experts. The meeting explored two issues in more depth - child participation and child-friendly
justice – NGO’s spoke about various examples of meaningful child participation as well as what would be
needed for child
participation to be effectively mainstreamed in EU policy.
What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
ECPAT ‘s PRESENCE IN OTHER INITIATIVES
Expert group
• In 2003, the European Commission established the Expert Group on Trafficking in Human Beings. The
Group prepared a Report in order to assist the Commission in view of launching further proposals. The
Report underlines the need for a comprehensive strategy on trafficking in human beings based on a
human rights’ and victims’ centered approach.
• Enforcement of EU policies and legal instruments is and must be backed by the activities of Europol and
by Eurojust.
What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
Funding programs
• an equally important tool to develop policies in the fight against human trafficking and the sexual
exploitation of children. In 2003, a general framework program for police and judicial co-operation in
criminal matters, named AGIS, replaced a number of previous funding programs in this field (such as
GROTIUS-II, OISIN-II, STOP-II, HIPPOKRATES and FALCONE) .
What has been done -The Agenda of Europe?
The EU Anti-Trafficking Day
• established on 18 October of every year, starting on 18 October 2007. The day is an opportunity for
awareness raising exercise on the need for better policy aimed at preventing and combating trafficking in
human beings.
• On the occasion of this fourth edition, the Belgian EU Presidency organises a high level conference
'Towards a multidisciplinary approach to prevention of trafficking in human beings, prosecution of
traffickers and protection of victims' bringing together politicians, government practitioners and civil
society from across EU.