7th Regional Meeting of NGOS Children’s Rights Coalitions in Europe Working Group 2 How can the EU support the implementation of the concluding observations? 28 April 2014 Facilitator: Mieke Schuurman Rapporteur: Daniela Gheorghe

Structure of the Working Group Presentation of Eurochild study on mainstreaming of children’s rights - Mieke Schuurman Presentation of Flemish example of child and youth impact report JoKER – Farah Laporte (Flemish Children’s Rights Coalition) Questions and Answers Discussion and Debate

Eurochild Study Mainstreaming of Children’s Rights in EU Legislation, Policy and Budget: Lessons from Practice Reasons for carrying out the Study Involvement of group of CR experts (NGOs and academics) How was the study carried out? Interviews, Literature Review and Case Studies (national and EU)

Mainstreaming of Children’s Rights in EU Legislation, Policy and Budget: Lessons from Practice Objectives of the study: Assess the current situation – processes in place to mainstream children’s rights and learn from national and international best practices Give guidance on how effective mainstreaming of children’s rights can be undertaken in the EU’s internal policies

Defining Mainstreaming Article 3 Lisbon Treaty: reference to children in the objectives of the Treaty. Mainstreaming is central plank to the EU’s children’s rights agenda. Mainstreaming is an equality issue: integrate equality considerations in all aspects of policy formulation, implementation and evaluation (definition of Bell and similarly used by the Council of Europe)

Outcomes of international studies Integration of the Principles of the UNCRC would act as a ‘child-proofing tool’ – UN Committee UNCRC: continuous process of child impact assessment and child impact evaluation is necessary. ‘ No policy is child neutral’ (De Vylder)

Outcomes of Studies: Inadequate attention paid to children’s right in EU legislative processes Examples: Asylum and Immigration law Audio-Visual Media Directive Unfair Commercial Practices Directive EU’s work-family reconciliation framework Good practice EU Example: Victim’s Rights Directive

7 STEPS to effective CR Mainstreaming 1)Political will & leadership 2) Awareness, capacity and resources within the services responsible 3) Commitment to use the UNCRC as the starting point 4) Application of mainstreaming tools to legislation, policy and funding and throughout the policy cycle 5) Systematic use of impact assessments in policy formulation and implementation 6) Consultation and involvement of stakeholders in decision-making 7) The views and experiences of children and young people themselves are sought and taken seriously

Recommendations to the European Commission 1.A robust successor to the Agenda on the Rights of the Child 2.A high-level children’s rights co-ordinator 3.An internal tool on child rights mainstreaming – integrating the seven steps 4.Training modules for European Commission staff 5.Critically analyse the ‘EU acquis and policy documents on the rights of the child’ 6.Peer reviews on child rights mainstreaming

Recommendations to the European Parliament Strengthen institutional capacity of the European Parliament on children’s rights:  A permanent mechanism needs to be created in the European Parliament to promote children’s rights across all policy sectors  Take leadership for championing children’s rights through inclusion in all EP documents and processes

Recommendations to the Council of Ministers Be a driver for implementing children’s rights Bridge the gap between internal and external dimensions. Overarching Recommendations to all EU institutions:  Strengthening capacity and involvement of civil society  Reinforce inter-institutional co-operation

Presentation Good Practice Example from Belgium – Farah Laporte Questions and Answers Discussion and Debate

How can the Concluding Observations and General Comments of the UNCRC Committee be reflected in Member States reporting processes towards the EU institutions? What role can NGO coalitions play in this? How can EU legislation and policies contribute to implementation of the UN Committee’s Recommendations? How could the Concluding Observations and recommendations to EU member states feed into a new EU Framework for Children’s Rights?