Today, the EU Alliance for Investing in Children released a statement welcoming the European Commission’s proposal on a Council Recommendation establishing the Child Guarantee, launched on 24 March. The statement was signed by 25 partner organisations of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, including Eurodiaconia.

Concretely, we welcome the proposal for the submission of national Action Plans, the enabling policy framework that will allow EU Member States to take a comprehensive approach in tackling child and family poverty when implementing the Child Guarantee as well as the strong reference to the use of EU funds and national budgets in implementing the measures outlined. The Alliance also welcomes the proposal for Child Guarantee National Coordinators, who will effectively coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Recommendation.

However, among other things the members of the Alliance call on the Council of the EU to strengthen the following parts of the European Commission’s proposal, ensuring that:

  • Stakeholders, as well as children and parents, participate meaningfully in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Action Plans, including through dedicated outreach measures targeting the most vulnerable of them.
  • EU Member States set ambitious targets in their fight against child poverty that exceeds the European Commission’s target of lifting at least 5 million children out of poverty, set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights’ Action Plan.
  • The Child Guarantee is properly monitored and feeds into the European Semester annually, essential to ensure the Child Guarantee is an implementable instrument. This must include the development of relevant monitoring indicators, adequately disaggregated.

Finally, we reiterate that child poverty is unacceptable as it severely violates the rights of children. We urgently call on Member States to adopt the Commission’s proposal under the Portuguese Presidency as a matter of priority and ensure that its starts being implemented within six months from its adoption.

To read the full statement of the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, please refer to their website.

You can also review Eurodiaconia’s complimentary reaction to the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and Child Guarantee here.