EFSC Report on the

“Fundamental Rights Agency Public Hearing”

The European Commission's consultation on turning the Vienna Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia into a European Fundamental Rights Agency closed on Tuesday 25 January 2005 with a public hearing where the European Foundation for Street Children was also present.

This plan, approved by the Council over a year ago, is a long-term one, as Commissioner Frattini said on Tuesday. It would be realistic for the Agency to launch its activities on 1 January 2007 and a proposal for a Regulation on the Agency will be adopted by the Commission in May this year.

EFSC welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to launch a consultation on this issue. At EU level, EFSC is committed on a non-profit basis to the improvement of the situation of children at risk and particularly of street children. The Network unites non-governmental organisations that are committed to this cause. Street children and youngsters are a global social phenomenon and many of them are denied the basic human rights as laid down by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant human rights conventions as well as the European Charter on Fundamental Rights.

The establishment of an EU Fundamental Rights Agency is regarded as a positive step forward to guarantee the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that requires the full commitment and a strong concerted effort by all the actors involved. EFSC warmly welcomed what the Head of the Fundamental Rights’ unit in the European Commission, Mr Brun, declared during the Symposium on Street Children organised by EFSC last December in Brussels. According to him, it is clear that the Agency will have to deal with the fundamental rights listed in the EU Charter and the rights of children should have an important place on its agenda.

The new Agency should be an effective tool for the protection and the promotion of children’s rights in the policies of the EU. The agency should make a proactive contribution to the promotion of children’s rights, making recommendations addressed to the EU Institutions and Member States to ensure the mainstreaming of children’s rights in all relevant EU policies. Other tasks of the Agency should be the collection and analysis of data, counselling, communication and circulation policy.

It should be independent, with an efficient administration and sufficient financial and staff resources to match its tasks and remit and co-operate efficiently with stakeholders in the field.

An overlap with the work that the Council of Europe has carried out for years in the child field should be avoided thanks to a gentlemen’s agreement.

EFSC will continue monitoring the establishment of the Agency to ensure that children’s rights are one of the priorities on the agenda of this new and important European body. Read more
For further information, please contact Elisabetta Fonck, EFSC Advocacy and Lobbying Officer elisabetta.fonck@enscw.org