There is an urgent need for action in the face of unequally guaranteed rights and a fragmented framework. These are the findings of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in its latest report, ‘Towards Integrated Child Protection Systems’, published on Friday 21 March.
According to the document, children do not enjoy the same level of protection throughout Europe, despite a common legal arsenal and numerous commitments.
In April 2024, for example, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on developing and strengthening integrated child protection systems in the best interests of the child, to help Member States build “integrated” systems that coordinate social services, justice, health and education and are aligned with the fundamental rights of the child.
On the ground, however, it has to be said that harmonisation is struggling.
The report highlights that only 10 Member States have a unified legislative framework for child protection. Elsewhere, the provisions remain scattered between several texts, sometimes in contradiction with each other.
Data from the 27 Member States also point to major imbalances in the provision of care for children in vulnerable situations.
While 18 countries have set up Barnahus centres - integrated structures for child victims of sexual violence - only seven have adopted a national strategy to protect children in the digital environment.
Similarly, children’s participation in policy-making often remains formal, and in around half of the States, no assessment of the impact of laws on children’s rights has ever been carried out.
The FRA also notes that the lack of uniformity is compounded by a lack of resources. There is a reason for this: few countries devote a clearly identified budget to child protection. Professionals often lack appropriate training and the procedures for reporting violence remain opaque.
The Agency therefore encourages States to adopt national framework laws, to strengthen the training of professionals, to collect comparable data and to systematically include children in decisions that affect them. A ‘child-oriented budgeting’ model at European level is also advocated.
The call for action is all the firmer because it comes at a time when the after-effects of the pandemic persist, and digital issues and social tensions are on the rise.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/g3d (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)