The co-chairs of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights MEP Anna Maria Corazza Bildt (PPE) and MEP Caterina Chinnici (S&D) have sent, together with group’s vice-presidents MEP Nathalie Griesbeck (ALDE) , MEP Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE) and MEP Timothy Kirkhope (ECR), a Parliamentary question to the European Commission on the successor to the EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child. 

The question reads as follows:

The promotion of children’s rights is an objective of the European Union as stated in Article 3(3) of the TEU. The ‘EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child’ (2011-2014), which aimed to ensure that all EU policies having an impact on children respected their rights, has been largely implemented and has come to an end.

In its resolution of 27 November 2014 on the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Parliament calls on the Commission to present ‘an ambitious and comprehensive child rights strategy and action plan for the next five years’. This call was echoed by the Council conclusions on children’s rights adopted on 4-5 December 2014, which call on the Commission to develop a renewed EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child in line with Better Regulation principles.

Will the Commission take action and present an ambitious and comprehensive new child rights strategy for the period 2015-2020, with a concrete action plan?

Will the Commission ensure increased coordination among its different services with a view to effectively mainstreaming children’s rights in all EU legislative proposals, policies and financial decisions and monitoring their full compliance with the EU acquis on children and with obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Link to the question available here.