24/10/2011

Innovative legislation to offer children new protection from abuse
Adopting a zero tolerance policy to crimes against children

By Elisabetta Montano, Italian Press Adviser

In 1997, EU Member States signed the Treaty of Amsterdam. In doing so, they agreed to increase the EU's role in adopting citizens' rights, social and employment policies and to create an area of freedom, security and justice. As part of that, they agreed on the need for legislative action against the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. The Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in December 2009, then also introduced an objective for the EU to promote children's rights.
This week, a new Directive that aims to meet that objective comes before Parliament for adoption by MEPs.

Setting the standard

The new Directive to combat the sexual abuse and exploitation of children and child pornography is an innovative legislative instrument that represents a step forward in the protection of our children. The Directive will be the second measure (after the Directive on Trafficking), subsequent to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which will encompass criminal material law and it will be the first measure to extensively harmonize a defined area of criminal law – the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse, including a multitude of offences. The Directive is based on the text of the 2007 Council of Europe Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. This is one of the most modern international instruments for the protection of children which reflects and incorporates the requests advanced by the European Parliament resolution on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography adopted on 3 February 2009.

The Directive will replace the existing Council Framework Decision of 22 December 2003 on Combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography which was far more limited in its content.

Minimum penalties

The new Directive sets out minimum penalties for offences such as child pornography and the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. A new set of additional aggravating circumstances are also introduced by the Directive. Higher penalties are to be enforced in cases where a child is in a particularly vulnerable situation or where someone in a recognised position of trust, authority or influence over a child has exploited that to commit such crimes, for example.

Prevention across borders

To avoid the risk of repeated offences by someone previously convicted for such criminal acts, a provision has been created to ensure that such an individual is prohibited from participating in activities involving regular contact with children. It provides for trans-border access to criminal records by employers across all Member States.

The text also provides for the seizure and confiscation of any revenues related to child pornography, includes a specific article on prevention and new provisions on assistance and support (special attention has been brought to ensure protection for children who report cases of abuse taking place within their family). Under new jurisdictional rules, sex tourists travelling abroad to abuse children would also face prosecution. In fact the Directive introduces the concept of 'child sex tourism' for the first time in EU legislation.

Criminalizing online abuse of childrens' rights

New forms of abuse and exploitation, such as online 'grooming' (solicitation of children for sexual purposes), will be criminalized. There will be a zero tolerance attitude to any websites containing or disseminating child pornography. Member States will have to take the necessary measures to ensure the prompt removal of such web pages and ensure the removal of such pages hosted outside their territory. The blocking of websites will be optional under the proposals, and subject to transparent procedures and adequate safeguards. But the proposals are clear, they are not advocating censorship, but referring exclusively to child pornography - images, photographs, films or clips in which a crime against children is clearly being committed.

A long road to consensus

The text is the result of a long procedure. The Directive was proposed by the Commission in March 2010, followed by exchanges of opinion in the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee in Parliament, a hearing of the European Parliament in September 2010, a general approach adopted by the Council in December 2010, a presentation of a draft report in the LIBE Committee in January 2011 , an orientation vote in February 2011, followed by several trilogues.

Following intensive negotiations in trilogues since March 2011, on the 22 June 2011, the Rapporteur Ms Angelilli, together with the Shadow Rapporteurs representing all the political groups, reached a first reading agreement with the Council on the proposed Directive. It was finally adopted by the LIBE Committee in July 2011.