Caritas Europa, as part of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children together with the European Parliament, is calling for the Council of the EU and its Member States to be ambitious in the implementation the European Pillar of Social Rights, to adopt the Child Guarantee Council Recommendation as a matter of priority, and to ensure that the Child Guarantee starts being implemented six months from the adoption of the Recommendation.
Background
On 4 March, the European Commission launched its Communication for the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. The Action Plan which calls on EU Member States to aim to lift at least 5 million children out of poverty by 2030, will be discussed among EU leaders on 7 & 8 May during the Porto Social Summit.
On 24 March, the European Commission launched its proposal for a Council Recommendation establishing the Child Guarantee, a deliverable of the EPSR Action Plan. The Council Recommendation is expected to be adopted in June 2021 and currently, EU Member States are developing their positions.
The EU Alliance for Investing in Children has been advocating for child poverty reduction and social inclusion since 2014. The upcoming Child Guarantee and the EPSR Action Plan represent important opportunities to ensure that EU Member States prioritise investing in children in the next years. For this reason, and given that the next two months can determine the future of these policies, the EU Alliance joins forces with the European Parliament and its Intergroup on Children’s Rights to further push the Council of the EU to adopt an ambitious Child Guarantee and to implement and even exceed the targets of the EPSR Action Plan.
More information
Peter Verhaeghe
Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer
Tel: +32 (0)2 235 03 96
Mob: +32 (0)478 58 54 33
pverhaeghe@caritas.eu
