WRITTEN QUESTION E-0597/02 by Feleknas Uca (GUE/NGL) to the Commission. Use of child soldiers.
Date: 2002-03-05
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ECHO, EU aid, Unicef, child, child protection, children's rights

C 277 E/64

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

14.11.2002

(2002/C 277 E/068)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0597/02

by Feleknas Uca (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(5 March 2002)

Subject: Use of child soldiers

The additional protocol on the use of child soldiers, placing a ban on the use of children in armed conflict,
recently came into force. According to UN estimates, there are currently more than 300 000 children
actively involved in warfare, mainly in areas of conflict in Africa and Asia.

So far 96 states have signed the agreement but only 14 have ratified it. This shows that there is much
more to be done in order to stop the use of child soldiers.

1. What action is the Commission taking to stop the use of child soldiers?

Did the Commission finance any projects last year to help prevent children from going to war? If so,

2.
which?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(2 May 2002)

The Commission shares the concern expressed by the Honourable Member and is committed to combat
the widespread use of child soldiers, which is considered an unacceptable plight. Strong support has been
given to the Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in
Armed Conflict, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 May 2000.

Assistance and protection of children involved in armed conflicts is channelled through a number of
Commission programmes including the European Initiative for Human Rights and Democracy. The
promotion of children’s rights was one of the priorities for funding in 2001 and will be mainstreamed in
funding for the period 2002-2004.

The Commission considers that assistance and protection of vulnerable children should be seen in the
wider context of poverty eradication,
in the framework of Community development co-
operation. Children are an important focal group of the Community’s external aid, in particular in sectoral
policies such as education and health.

therefore,

Furthermore, the Commission has also made children a cross-cutting priority for humanitarian assistance.
This commitment is reflected in concrete projects, advocacy work inside the Union and in research aimed
at improving the international humanitarian response.

The Commission strongly supports an action-oriented agenda and devotes particular attention to the child
soldiers question, notably trying to identify and implement the best actions focusing on social and
economic re-integration.

In this field, the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) pays special attention to protecting and assisting
children. Building on standards, obligations and principles spelled out in the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, specific projects on humanitarian assistance for conflict-affected children were supported
throughout 2001. In 2000 and 2001, ECHO spent over € 40 million on projects to protect and assist
children world-wide, examples include: psychosocial support
to child soldiers (Sierra Leone, Sudan,
Kosovo, Macedonia, West Bank, Gaza Strip and Lebanon), the funding of schools in emergency camps for
displaced persons (West Timor, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Macedonia,
Montenegro) and health care programmes for war-affected children (Sudan).

At policy level, ECHO funded research activities (as the Save the Children project aiming at drafting a
manual for people working with child soldiers drawing on the experience of the aid community and a
institutional and operational
project by the Belgian Red Cross seeking to elaborate durable, stable,

14.11.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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In 2002 ECHO,

in co-operation with United Nations International Children’s
intervention strategies).
intends to improve the availability of data on children affected by armed
Emergency Fund (Unicef),
conflicts (systemised data base). As for advocacy, ECHO produced brochures,
funded photographic
exhibitions and jointly organised with VOICE and Save the Children, the Conference on the plight of child
soldiers in Brussels in October 2001.

Under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (Chapter B7-7) for 2000, substantial
support was provided for a two-year project undertaken by Unicef in Sierra Leone regarding protection
and reintegration of children associated with the fighting forces and other children separated from their
families as a result of the conflict. Furthermore in 2001, an additional € 719 932 was designated to social
reintegration of child ex-combatant also in Sierra Leone.

These efforts form an integral part of the promotion and protection of human rights within humanitarian
operations as well as in linking relief, rehabilitation and development.

(2002/C 277 E/069)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0611/02

by Geoffrey Van Orden (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(5 March 2002)

Subject: Taxation of State pensions in the 15 Member States of the EU

Are State pensions taxed in each of the 15 Member States of the European Union?

In Member States where State pensions are taxed, what is the rate of taxation levied?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(11 April 2002)

The Commission has understood that state pensions refer to benefits from so-called ‘first-pillar’ old-age
pensions, which are usually financed on the ‘Pay-as-you-go’ principle. The benefits from such state
pensions are in principle liable to personal income taxation in each of the Member States. They are treated
as labour income in most cases. However, most Member States tax such benefits more favourably than
income from other sources, either by way of increased tax allowances or additional tax credits that are age-
based, or by way of partial exemption of taxable income from the personal income tax. Moreover, Member
States generally do not levy social security contributions on pensions, although some Member States may
levy such charges for health insurance or at lower general rates for pensioners than for people of working
age. Together, these measures F and the effect of the system of progression of the statutory marginal
income tax rates F imply that the direct tax burden faced by retired people receiving State pensions is
generally lower than that carried by people of working age. The effect of such measures is that the
difference between net incomes of pensioners and people in employment will be significantly smaller than
the difference in gross incomes.

However, it should be pointed out that usually the effective rate of taxation levied on persons with State
pension benefits depends not only on the amount of the state pension benefits, but also (often crucially) on
the amount of other taxable incomes (for example, supplementary pension benefits, rents, other income
from savings). Furthermore, the tax and social security contribution burden on pensioners tends to reflect
the generosity of state pension benefits and thus the ability to pay of pensioners. Annex 1 provides an
overview of the tax treatment of State pension benefits in the Member States. This annexe is sent direct to
the Honourable Member and to the general Secretariat of the Parliament.