kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
a specific expert group is now examining the ways to expand information on minors already available on the portal and your specific question relating to adoption procedures could indeed be considered in this context.
this convention aims at protecting adopted children in their countries if possible by offering them a home in those countries.
on welfare and child poverty concerning the issue of the welfare of children i would like to say a few words on the fight against poverty which is a complex reality affecting many children unfortunately.
moreover the brussels iia regulation foresees mediation as one of the functions of cooperation between central authorities in matters of parental responsibility.
on e justice on improving access to information in the justice field you know that the e justice portal was launched in two thousand and ten in collaboration with the commission and the member states.
working closely with the social protection committee the presidency has therefore tabled council conclusions on an integrated approach for combating poverty and social inclusion.
the fight against poverty is one of the objectives of the europe two thousand and twenty strategy and it is also one of the presidency's priorities.
eighty one three of the treaty including in the field of adoption but only on the basis of a proposal from the commission.
it promotes the amicable settlement of disputes by encouraging the use of mediation and by ensuring a balanced relationship between mediation and judicial proceedings.
there is common understanding in council that the revision of brussels iia is a topic of great importance and to be honest it is about time.
in this document which is to be adopted in june the council encourages member states to address child poverty and promote children's wellbeing through integrated strategies in accordance with the commission recommendation investing in children'. the council also invites member states to intensify the exchange of knowledge experiences and best practices in this field. let me mention in particular the roma children because yes we must also continue to address other longstanding challenges in addition to the situation faced by roma children and i thank the european parliament for keeping this issue on the eu agenda including on international roma day earlier this month on eight april to be precise. as regards mediation the eu has put in place the two thousand and eight mediation directive
it provides for cooperation between the authorities of the different states.
the council's second action plan on e justice stresses that information relating to minors should be included in the e justice portal.
on adoption as you know the issue of adoption of children is a matter which is not regulated at eu level but by national laws and by some international conventions particularly the hague convention of one thousand nine hundred and ninety three to which all eu member states are parties.
it is our aim in my committee to improve our cooperation with the legislative committees to ensure that the citizens' concerns and experiences are better taken into consideration in the legislative process.
in addition to the testimonies of the direct experiences and problems related to eu law the petitions that we receive also have an important role in helping to identify problems with the national implementation of eu law in the member states.
this is important when we discuss how best to protect the best interest of children across borders in europe. in connection with the upcoming review of the brussels iia regulation and also in light of the increasing number of petitions addressed to parliament i am happy that this
debate is taking place here tonight.
it is an issue of great importance because our committee has received a large number of petitions related to children's welfare issues and their treatment by either judicial or administrative bodies in the member states.
this is definitely a testimony for more cooperation in family matters with transborder aspects.
there is not only an urgent need to review the legal instruments but also to try to find a way to avoid the harmful situations described in the petitions that we have received.
we have ensured freedom of movement but it is also our duty to take into deep consideration the consequences that citizens from different nationalities meet and decide to build a family but as we know couples can face problems and finally separate.
that is why we must make all possible efforts to put instruments in place to handle the situation in the best way possible and above all with the best interests of the child as the paramount objective in all decisions. these two oral questions tonight have been raised in order to draw attention to the concrete problems that citizens are facing.
finally on a more personal note i am happy to see that my dear colleague jeanine hennis plasschaert is here representing the council tonight.
i am sure that you will provide us as always with clear and fruitful answers to the question raised and the same goes of course for commissioner vra jourov.
mr president after that last intervention let me just bring the debate back to its core this evening which is about children in cross border situations.
i have to say even though it is rather late in the evening i have been very impressed by the contributions from council and commission.
very often you get criticised but i thought you were very honest and open on this very sensitive issue.
in my role as children's rights mediator on this issue in parliament and in the committee on petitions we come across the saddest of cases and we try in my office to bring about mediation.
we do it very rarely because usually people come to us at the very end stage and i would appeal to the commission and you have mentioned mediation to do as many member states are trying to do bring mediation in early so that it can fix problems without that tension and adversarial system that is the courts.
it is about timeliness a child removed by one parent from the other needs to be returned to its home in a timely manner and we have several examples of member states who are not doing that.
lastly as time is short we need judicial cooperation to be enhanced.
we need to have informal networks for this to work properly.
it is a problem that will not go away and it needs our eyes watching very carefully.
that being said we are all aware of its shortcomings when it comes to child abduction cases.
in this respect it appears that the regulation has been overtaken by events that is to say the growing number of transnational family dissolution proceedings which has been aggravated by the increasing divergences between the legal rules applicable to family dissolutions.
on top of this family law which is a competence of the member states has been fragmented into different types of family models marriage;
as a result it appears that society has moved on and that the regulation has been left behind.
we are all aware that the law is a blunt instrument when it comes to family questions that judges and lawyers are not necessarily the persons best equipped to deal with such questions and that the courts are not necessarily the best or most costeffective forum. we need to reflect on this and try to identify ways to help our citizens in these painful moments of their lives
while safeguarding and promoting the best interests of the child.
the continuing success of the regulation will depend on its successful and targeted revision.
working with organisations experienced in child participation is in my view a good way to develop institutional practice that would better protect the best interests of the child.
as has been said several times already the brussels iia regulation is an extremely important piece of legislation for many families in europe. it has been applied for ten years and has proved to be very useful but the time has come to review it.
the commission intends to come forward with a proposal late june this year. our assessment is that the brussels iia regulation works overall well with regard to matrimonial matters. we do not envisage at this stage the need to revise it in this respect. on the other hand there is clear evidence for the urgent need to revise the regulation as regards parental responsibility aspects.
parliament better than anyone is aware of numerous cross border cases in which the judicial cooperation based on this regulation is not fast enough to say the least.
children end up being hostage of lengthy legal disputes. the mechanisms put in place by the brussels iia regulation have helped in determining parental responsibility or settling child abduction cases but we have to take additional steps.
i intend to further clarify the rules on parental responsibility to improve the enforcement of judicial decisions to speed up the procedures and make sure that the best interests of the child are of primary consideration and effectively protected.
more concretely we are considering measures on the following aspects.
firstly to speed up the return procedure.
evidence shows that in those member states with specialised courts the return procedure can be much smoother and quicker. secondly to see whether the existing exequatur procedure is still needed and to define the grounds for refusal of the enforcement of judgements.
it is unacceptable that currently a parent can be left without any possibility to see his or her child for years due to delays in the enforcement of judgments.
thirdly to increase judicial cooperation and mutual trust between member states for example when it comes to the specificity of family proceedings.
too often these rules are invoked to refuse a judgement from another member state.
i am convinced that while acknowledging different legal traditions we can and must do better to respect the child's right to be heard.
finally to improve the cooperation between national authorities with responsibility for child protection or parental responsibility matters.
we need a strong network of these authorities to help parents in enforcing their parental rights abroad.
besides these key changes to the brussels iia regulation we will also continue our awareness raising activities targeting also child welfare and consular authorities.
this is duly reflected in our funding priorities and calls for proposals.
to conclude let me refer to the aspects related to adoptions.
the brussels iia regulation does not cover these aspects.
the functioning of child protection and welfare services is governed by national
none of them fall into the remit of eu law. however the commission is contributing to the elaboration of a common understanding of how the rights of the child can best be protected and promoted.
for instance let me point to the ten principles on integrated child protection systems which were debated in the last european forum on the rights of the child and which are also mentioned in your draft resolution.
we will continue to support member states in implementing a child rightsbased approach and i know that you also through dialogue and awareness raising can have a real impact on improving the situation on this very important matter.
i am looking forward to our close cooperation on these files in the best interest of children and for the benefit of families in europe.
we have heard first hand of the problems faced in securing the best interests of the child in cross border cases from some very desperate parents.
there are estimated to be up to two million british people living around the rest of the eu and an equal number of eu nationals living in the uk. freedom of movement has brought our citizens unprecedented opportunities but now we must ensure that our legal systems and judicial cooperation develop at a similar pace
especially when families find themselves in a difficult situation.
the concerns raised by citizens demonstrate the clear need to enhance and develop cooperation and information exchange across borders.
we have heard calls for a more common understanding on the best interests of the child in line with the un convention on the rights of the child which must always be paramount and i would like to hear from the commission what is intended in this respect.
family law is a national competence and member states therefore have a strong responsibility to ensure that they address the increasing pressure on social workers and social services by ensuring that family courts and social services are fully supported and well resourced and that parents and children
capacities and institutions in order to improve the quality of life.
many member states have cut back on specialist geriatric medicine and we need to know what the real effects have been on older people.
this is another reason why i believe pressure should be put on the council for a decision on the equal treatment directive to outlaw discrimination in access to goods and services and that would include healthcare.
i know of cases where either the nursing home itself decides which person is to be resuscitated or not or the relatives are told that they must sign up to the document which is a complete abuse of the person's right to choose.
does the commission see itself playing a role in the dissemination of best practice?
i am not talking about living wills here i am talking about do not resuscitate orders.
we need now at eu level to clarify the extent of that abuse.
quite often they are the ones who care for their relatives day in day out with little help.
the whole area of long term care for older people has been ignored for many years.
there are many cases of malnutrition and dehydration but it would be useful if we could have facts and figures.
i hope that the commission will bring forward a green paper on elder abuse; i know that the commissioner has talked about that himself.
has the commission got any data on the number of deaths attributable to dehydration or malnutrition?
take the case of a ninety three year old woman who went into a care home for respite care for one week one week only only for her to return home completely dehydrated;
does the commission agree that it violates the right to life under article two of the charter of fundamental rights? i am pleased that the world health organisation has adopted a broad definition of elder abuse.
it should be up to the medical practitioner in consultation with the patient to decide on whether dnr should be on someone's notes.
it is up to us all working with them to make sure their voices are heard and not forgotten.
what is the commission doing to look at the use of so called do not resuscitate orders?
we must not forget either the support and recognition that informal carers need.
more must be done as well by each member state to make sure that older people can be supported in their own homes if that is what they wish and to regulate qualification requirements for people caring for older people with adequate training mechanisms in place.
it has long supported work on long term care provision as part of the open method of coordination in the area of social protection.
in two thousand and nine the commission implemented a pilot project which led to the selection of two projects.
to help remedy this situation the member states together with the eu institutions could consider moves to assess and certify caring skills including those acquired while caring for dependent relatives and in household management which are activities mainly performed by women.
a commission staff working paper is currently being prepared on long term care in connection with efforts to promote active healthy and dignified ageing and a commission communication is scheduled for.
what we are calling for is therefore more awareness and research and more innovative policy development.
the evidence clearly confirms that differences in income working and living conditions are reflected in the average health status at all ages.
in turn this affects their attractiveness on the labour market their current income and their future pension rights.
establishing social services that allow for respite care and care leave and granting specific rights to informal carers in social security schemes in particular as regards pension entitlement would also help to encourage and enable more people to provide informal care.
as you suggest poverty access to care and longevity may be interlinked. we looked at such links in a recent communication on health inequalities.
i also want to mention the contributions of the grundtvig programme for adult education the public health programme and the two thousand and eleven european year of volunteering.
the commission also continues to cofinance a number of actions under the daphne programme and the public health programme.
however we are only at the beginning in terms of policies that effectively break or modify the links between the social hierarchy and the hierarchy of health statuses.
you have rightly pointed out that in most member states the bulk of support and care for dependent persons is provided by family and friends and this will continue to apply over the next few decades.
two thousand and eleven yesterday the commission adopted the proposal for designating two thousand and twelve the european year for active ageing.
that framework needs to be flexible enough to apply in all the member states at national regional and local level and to a variety of social services.
inadequate recognition of the role of informal carers and inadequate support for their contribution can lead to risks of social exclusion.
the commission has taken a number of initiatives including the major conference it held on seventeen march two thousand and eight to increase knowledge of the elder abuse issue and to promote debate at eu level on how to prevent it.
the commission has already taken a number of initiatives to step up work on the quality of long term care services increase knowledge in this area and promote debate at eu level.
in addition the council conclusions of thirty november two thousand and nine called on the commission to develop an action plan for further activities in two thousand and eleven which will promote dignity health and quality of life for older persons'.
the two thousand and nine joint report on social protection and social inclusion confirmed the importance of addressing the issue of workforce shortages in the long term care sector.
over the next few decades we need to find ways of ensuring that older people are given the quality care they need.
you will have recognised of course that a number of our questions concern the issues about the vulnerability of older people and a very strong feeling that we have that it is crucially important that people can feel safe with those providing care.
while i take your point about the issues about what is a member state competence nevertheless the open method of coordination exists to help member states work together on something which while it is not a competence of the european union nevertheless is seen as something of common importance.
are very important within this.
i am also wondering what further steps the commission might take to persuade member states of the cost effectiveness of supporting informal carers. there are certainly figures from the uk that recognise that this is a contribution of billions saved in our economy because the care is being given by close friends or relatives rather than by the state and that in fact investing in something like a carer's allowance and support mechanisms for carers
really is worth doing rather than having people totally worn out isolated and suffering their own health and mental health problems because they have been caring for hours without background support.
i am also interested in what you are saying about the possibilities of improving the qualifications of carers.
but our resolution also talks about the need for contracts to stipulate at least a minimum income a minimum wage.
growth potential employment and social cohesion.
of this programme.
it is a great success for the greek people who can finally turn the page after many years of hardship and sacrifices and for the whole of europe which after many mistakes has proved that it can ensure the integrity of the euro area.
but let me come back to the programme.
let me also give a special mention to declan costello who has done excellent work on the ground. greece is now exiting the financial assistance programme with an impressive track record of reforms implemented and with an ambitious and socially balanced growth strategy that has to be pursued and which we should all support with complementary policy actions at eu level in order to further greek
time for greece to redress its fundamentals;
the eurogroup has also contributed to the successful outcome.
this is the right time to assess what greece and the euro area countries have achieved together during the last eight years.
these will help greece to continuously lift its productivity capacity and offer a solid anchor for confidence amongst foreign investors and greek citizens.
today greece is ready to stand on its own feet again and with the sound foundations for sustainable balance and inclusive growth.
the outlook according to the latest forecasts is bright and in line with the euro area average.
the recent agreement on debt relief is the last of several improvements in greece's lending terms since.
at the end of the programme the overall size of the cash buffer in greece will be eur.
i will walk you through the details of the agreement but before that let me briefly mention where we have come from.
against this positive backdrop the financial sector is more and more resilient.
this is a longer safety net than in any other country's programme so far.
a date to celebrate.
this will take the form of semiannual payments in december and in june until. two thousand and twenty two these payments give a positive incentive for greece to continue implementing reforms in the coming years.
net flexible and open labour and product markets and also very importantly modern public administration just to name a few.
commissioner moscovici will be able to tell you more about that in a minute.
it has already successfully raised funds from bond markets on several occasions.
i am encouraged to find that the greek authorities see it that way too and i welcome the policy commitments they have announced to the eurogroup.
this process must prove resilient over forthcoming political and economic cycles and we must never forget that.
i am confident that greece will look at its policy options and be able to improve on existing reforms to promote stability and political compromise stability to spur investment compromise in the name of future generations.
public finances had to be put on a sound footing competitiveness needed restoring the economy had to be made more open and modernised and the negative spillovers of all this to the financial sector needed to be addressed.
we all agree that for the next couple of years the socalled enhanced surveillance by the european commission will help greece stay the course.
new policy options should take this into account.
these were long and difficult years.
greece should commit to the requirements to participate in the euro just like any other country in the euro but in this safe framework the government has an obligation to provide policy options to its citizens and to debate them internally.
today greece's budget is running a solid primary surplus above four for two consecutive years and has been made more sustainable through ambitious taxation and patient reforms. importantly the social safety net is being revamped to better protect vulnerable groups.
we agreed that eur fifteen billion will be disbursed after the national parliaments in a number of member states have had their say and this can happen as soon as next week.
greece has been on the agenda of the eurogroup for the last eight years.
that means faster job creation and falling unemployment.
these benefits represent no cost for the european tax payer;
greece should continue implementing responsible fiscal policies and growthenacting reforms to improve the living conditions and the chances and prospects of its citizens.
the time that every reform process requires.
the results have been particularly impressive on the fiscal side.