On Monday, 14 June 2021, the Council of the EU adopted the Council Recommendation establishing the Child Guarantee, which was warmly welcomed by Eurodiaconia.

This is also a great moment for the EU Alliance for Investing in Children, where Eurodiaconia is a member, as we have been advocating for the Child Guarantee for more than two years. Most importantly, the European Commission and the Council of the EU took on board most of our recommendations and we now have a balanced text that reflects the needs of children and their families in EU Member States.

The next steps now lie with the EU Member States that will have to implement the Council Recommendation.  As a first step, EU Member States will appoint their national Child Guarantee Coordinators and they will start (if not already started) developing their Child Guarantee Action Plans that they will have to submit to the European Commission by March 2022.

Today, the EU Alliance for Investing in Children launched its statement on the very important process of drafting the CG Action Plans. With this statement, the EU Alliance provides key recommendations to national authorities on drafting the Child Guarantee national action plans to ensure the design of ambitious and comprehensive plans, taking into account the specific challenges of each Member State, and in meaningful consultation with relevant national stakeholders. Eurodiaconia encourages its members to share the recommendations with their relevant national authorities and Eurodiaconia will continue to support the implementation of the Child Guarantee (CG) to break the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty together with its members.

Please find the EU Alliance statement here.