Brussels, 12/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission strongly denied any intention to legislate in 2007 in order to prohibit violent video games for children under the age of 16, thus contradicting information diffused on Thursday by the press reporting that such an initiative would be launched by the summer. “No concrete legislative proposal is contemplated this year”, said Friso Roscam Abbing, Spokesman for the Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner. “We do not confirm what some press agencies are announcing”, the spokesman said, saying that Commissioner Franco Frattini's remarks on Wednesday in Berlin were “interpreted wrongly”. For now, the Commission has launched the debate at interinstitutional level and is reflecting on the “best way to come to grips with” the problem posed by the diffusion of such violent video games, Roscam Abbing said. The Commission intends to raise the matter at the JHA Informal Council to be held on Monday and Tuesday in Dresden (EUROPE 9342). It plans to call on Member States to introduce more severe penalties on the whole chain of players involved in the distribution of violent games (producer, creator, distributor, retailer), taking inspiration from British legislation. This question will be one of the main subjects on the agenda of the European Children's Rights Forum on 21 March (EUROPE 9328). A communication on cyber-crime, to be revealed at the end of March, will also deal with this aspect. The Presidency will be organising a conference on this theme in June. (bc)