COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 21 December 1999

on the implementation of measures to combat child sex tourism

(1999/C 379/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. DENOUNCES AND CONDEMS child sex tourism as a serious violation of the rights of the child and human dignity;

2. RECALLS the United Nations Convention of 1989 on the Rights of the Child on the occasion of its 10th anniversary and the Plan for Action adopted by the World Congress on Sexual Exploitation of children held in Stockholm in 1996;

3. CALLING for rapid progress in the work on the elaboration of the optional protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography with a view to the successful conclusion of the work in the year 2000;

4. WELCOMES the Commission communication of 26 May 1999 on the implementation of measures to combat child sex tourism as a report on the progress achieved in the fight against sex tourism for the period 1997 to 1998 in the following four areas of action: improving knowledge of the phenomenon of child sex tourism; strengthening the effectiveness of laws and law enforcement, including extra-territorial criminal law; intensifying efforts to stem the flow of sex tourists from Member States; and developing measures to combat sex tourism in non-member countries;

5. EMPHASISES the cross-sectoral nature of the fight against child sex tourism, requiring at all levels of action a coordinated and integrated approach combining justice and home affairs, social affairs, health, education, tourism, new information technologies and internal market, as well as external policies and human rights;

6. WELCOMES the European Union initiatives to protect children in the context of Joint Action 97/154/JHA of 24 February 1997 concerning action to combat trafficking in human beings and sexual abuse of children(1), Common Position (EC) No 37/1999 of 13 September 1999 adopted by the Council with a view to adopting a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council adopting a programme of Community action (the Daphne programme) (2000 to 2003) on preventive measures to fight violence against children, young people and women(2); Joint Action 96/700/JHA of 29 November 1996 establishing an incentive and exchange programme for persons responsible for combating trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children(3) (the STOP programme, covering the period 1996 to 2000); and the actions aimed at combating child pornography on the Internet;

7. URGES the Commission and the Member States to continue and further develop appropriate initiatives to combat child sex tourism in the four areas of action outlined in the Commission communication, based on a cross-pillar approach;

8. CONSIDERS it necessary for the Commission and the Member States to continue supporting awareness-raising activities and encouraging the development of codes of conduct and other self-regulatory schemes in the tourism industry, placing a particular emphasis on their effective implementation;

9. WELCOMES all efforts to develop measures on combating child sex tourism through prevention, suppression, and support for the victims in those countries where children are specially prone to such abuse, and urges intensified efforts to stop the flow of child sex tourism from the Member States.

10. INVITES the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all development and cooperation policies support the fight against child sex tourism;

11. CALLS ON the Commission and the Member States to work together closely in a complementary and coordinated way, within their respective spheres of competence and in cooperation with relevant organisations, to combat child sex tourism as a specific contribution to the general objective of child protection.

(1) OJ L 63, 4.3.1997, p. 2.

(2) OJ C 317, 4.11.1999, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 322, 12.12.1996, p. 7.