What has Europe ever done for Children? Dichotomising Rights from Policies Dr John Pender 1
Objectives of workshop: Introduce participants to the range of agencies and actors grappling with children s rights and attendant social policy-making at the European level; Introduce participants to the kaleidoscopic array of potential policy-makers at the EU level; Move towards a de-coupling of children s rights initiatives and instruments to one focused on policy agenda setting and formulation at the European level; Review existing and on-going children s social policy development at the EU level; Critically review the recent emergence of Europe de I Enfrance within intergovernmental and supranational policy-making structures Dr John Pender 2
Social policy making, rights and children: key European actors: European Union (EU) (27 Member States) Council of Europe (CE) (47 Member States) United Nations (UN) (194 Member States) Pan European NGOs Dr John Pender 3
Brief rights based output to date: European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) Council of Europe Children? Tyrer V United Kingdom (1978) United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (1989) Treaty of Amsterdam (1999) (Article 3) Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000 only fully ratified 2009) European Union Children? Article 24 An EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child (2011) European Commission Dr John Pender 4
EU Policy based output to date Piggybacking Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child (2006) European Commission European Parliament Resolution in response to Towards an EU Strategy (2008) contained 191 recommendations! European Network of National Observatories on Childhood (ChildOneEurope) European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) European Youth Forum Dr John Pender 5
Main policy contents of the Strategy: What s in it? Objective 1: Capitalizing on existing activities while addressing urgent needs Basically this amounts to following up on its enunciations on human trafficking, using the Open Method of Coordination on social protection and social inclusion and working with other international organization Objective 2: identifying priorities for future EU action The EU Commission will explore why children aren t enjoying their full rights. This assessment will be updated every five years. Wide public consultation process to follow (Green and White Papers) Objective 3: Mainstreaming children s rights in EU actions Will seek to build on the Council of Europe Programme entitled Building a Europe for and with Children (2006-2008) Objective 4: Establishing efficient coordination and consultation mechanisms Creation of a European Forum for the Rights of the Child Dr John Pender 6
Main policy contents of the Strategy (Cont.): What s in it? Objective 5: Enhancing capacity and expertise on children s rights All children s rights specialist stakeholders to be adequately trained and up-skilled Objective 6: Communicating more effectively on children s rights Eurostat data augmented by childrencentric rights information Objective 7: Promoting the rights of the child in external relations Efforts will be made to secure the financial resources necessary to fund the actions proposed in this communication (COM (2006) 367 final, p.10). Dr John Pender 7
Post Lisbon and new approaches Permanent Intergovernmental Group on Europe of Children (Europe de L Enfance) Terms of reference: Ministers and/or high-level government officials need to meet and exchange strategies, viewpoints and best practices on children s issues in the context of EU policies and the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (My italics). Children and not a concrete element of the EU s sphere of authority, but many decisions made by the EU affect the lives of children directly or indirectly, such as legislative instruments related to many aspects i.e. social protection, the labour market, the media, health, justice, education, culture, youth, the environment as well as consumer and food issues. Dr John Pender 8
So, what has Europe de l Enfance been getting up on issues around Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC)? 11 point plan: Integration of children and family policy Funding to be moved away from ill-being to well-being of children Moving beyond Barcelona (2002) ECEC targets Adoption of pluri-annual development plans to ensure affordable care for all We must guarantee cultural and financial access of ECEC services for children with special needs and children in a vulnerable or poverty situation More stringency around children to staff ratios in care settings together Appropriately trained staff Dr John Pender 9
Develop pedagogy which recognises diversity Invest in the professionalization of staff working with children and augment this by continuous professional development opportunities Ensure favourable working conditions, salary levels and professional status for the sector Joined-up evidence based approach across member states on emerging ECEC policy development Encourage research and its dissemination Engage in regular evaluation of policy Dr John Pender 10
All very well and good, but can anything tangible occur? Constitutional position of Social Policy: shared competency between Member States and EU Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) OMC is not just a provision, but is, in addition, a process. It provides a soft frame to hard law interventions and has its own way of sanctioning. Finally, OMC is a form of supranational governance of some interest in terms of intervention in a global framework (Régent, 2002, p.23). But Deticek v Sgueglia (Case C-403/09 PPU ECJ) (2009) Dr John Pender 11
Where to next? Dr John Pender 12