As part of its work programme for 2024, the European Commission announced, under the sixth political priority – “A new impetus for European democracy” – its intention to present a recommendation on integrated child protection systems. This intention was previously set out in the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child of March 2021.

EU member states have an obligation to protect children from all forms of violence. They must therefore adopt the appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to effectively protect children.

This obligation stems from international and European legal documents on human rights, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Articles 3 and 19, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 24.According to the Commission, there are numerous gaps in child protection systems across the EU. The main purpose of child protection systems is to prevent and combat violence against children and to address other protection needs.

At national level, the approach to child protection systems has generally been fragmented, focussing on specific groups of children and/or concrete child protection issues.

The main challenges to ensuring the protection of children are common and recurrent, both in the Member States and in cross-border cases.

Prevention policies aimed at addressing root causes and early identification systems are sometimes deficient, and there is often a lack of adequate and timely responses and comprehensive support (including psychosocial) to the various spheres in which children need protection.

There are also gaps in the coordination and cooperation mechanisms designed to ensure adequate and effective responses between agencies, between ministries and in a multidisciplinary way, based on integrated legislation and policies.

This situation is aggravated by the lack of coordination between the different levels of competence. The availability of human and financial resources – and the structures to coordinate them – is also a challenge.

With this recommendation, the Commission will put into practice one of the main actions of the EU Strategy. To protect all children from violence, combat child poverty and promote equal opportunities, the European Commission has committed to presenting an initiative to support the development and strengthening of integrated child protection systems.

Centred on the needs of children, the initiative aims to encourage all relevant authorities and services to work together in a holistic way, from preventing abuse and violence against children to protecting them.

It also aims to present how best to use existing EU instruments (legislation, policies, funding) to make child protection systems more integrated and robust, avoiding compartmentalisation.

As set out in the Strategy, such integrated child protection systems should, inter alia, include effective prevention, early intervention and family support, and provide children without parental care or at risk of losing it with the necessary conditions to avoid separation from the family.

Poverty should never be the only reason for placing children in institutions. The transition to quality community- and family-based care must be ensured.

Other priorities include support for the creation of childcare centres in the EU and prevention measures, including family support, to help children grow up without violence.

In preparing the recommendation, the European Commission held a public consultation from 14 July 2023 to 20 October 2023, and research updated by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights was also taken into account for this purpose.

Promoting integrated child protection systems is intrinsically linked to preventing and protecting against violence. With children at the centre of actions, all competent authorities and services should work together to protect and support children, always acting in their best interests.

The College of Commissioners is due to present its initiative next week.

The recommendation will form the basis for the Commission to facilitate discussions, the exchange of good practices and support through available EU instruments, including support for the development of national or local monitoring tools.

These actions will involve EU Member States and other EU stakeholders at national, regional and local level, including cross-border situations. The Commission will monitor the progress of the recommendation through the work of existing networks, for example the meetings of the European Network on the Rights of the Child and the European Forum on the Rights of the Child.

Our team is at your disposal for more information.