EMPL exchange of views on the Child Guarantee

31-03-2021 - 08:59
Celebrating 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Colourful painted children's hands on a surface © 123RF/European Union–EP

The EMPL Committee held an exchange of views on the "proposal for a Council recommendation for European Child Guarantee” on 25 March 2021, from 13.35-15.30.

In light of the upcoming Commission proposal next week, MEPs exchanged views on the Council recommendation with the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit and several speakers: Jana Hainsworth from Eurochild, Anita Bay from Save the Children, Christina Wieda from Bertelsmann Stiftung and Hugh Frazer from Maynooth University, Ireland.

Before the Covid-19 outbreak, 1 in 4 children were at risk of extreme poverty in Europe. Today 117 million more children are now at risk of falling below the national poverty lines and they are among the most vulnerable. To eradicate child poverty and tackle social inclusion, the European Parliament stressed in a series of resolutions and initiatives that every child in poverty should have access to free healthcare, free education, free childcare, decent housing and adequate nutrition, through a well-funded child guarantee.