Commission: protecting children’s rights”In today’s world children and adolescents often find themselves in difficult situations, whether it be in using the internet, in living as migrants, or having to testify in court. It is therefore our duty to protect and promote their rights”, said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship in recent days, in launching a public consultation aimed at re-defining EU strategy for the defence of children and their rights throughout the continent. The Executive wishes in this consultation to listen to the views of experts, educators, teachers and family associations so as to “find ways of making more effective EU policies in the promotion of the rights of children and adolescents”. The consultation, which will focus discussion on such “issues as family mediation, violence against children, child poverty”, migration, the “citizenship” of minors and the rights associated with it, will close on 20 August. In the autumn the Commission will publish a summary report and launch a series of child-protection actions at the Community level. Food aid: an appeal to “donors””People struggling with hunger nowadays is unacceptable. Through the EU Food Facility, Europe has been able to provide a rapid and efficient response to the food crisis faced by the developing countries”, said Andris Piebalgs, EU Development Commissioner, in presenting the results so far obtained by the Food Facility on 15 June. The EU Food Facility was created with a 1 billion Euro budget in 2008 following the steep global food price rises in that year. It provides funding “to improve access to agricultural inputs; sustain safety-net programmes in the most vulnerable populations; and support microcredit, investment, equipment, infrastructure and training”. The Commission says that over 500 million Euro have so far been disbursed for projects realized for example in Pakistan, Guatemala and Niger. It also confirms it has received “an impressive number of proposals” which would require funding, “but, given that the Facility is endowed with a limited budget, “it is calling on other international donors to help fund projects” to combat poverty in the developing world.European Parliament: special commission on the budgetA parliamentary commission has been created ad hoc with the task of “planning the future long-term financial framework of the European Union”. The decision was taken at Strasbourg during the plenary session of the EP (14-17 June): the commission, composed of 50 MEPs, will begin work in July and will be called “to define the financial priorities of the Parliament and propose funding procedures for the future budget” of the EU. Attention will especially be focused on the six-year Financial Framework which will follow that currently adopted by the 27 for the period 2007-2013. The document that establishes the commission – called to conclude its task by July 2011, before the Commission presents its proposal for the next six-year Financial Framework – calls on the fifty members of the commission to consider “the political challenges and budgetary resources for a sustainable EU after 2013”.ImpIementing the Small Business Act for SMESmall and medium enterprises (SME) “continue to be the backbone of the economy” of the 27: between 2002 and 2008 they have created over 3 million jobs, but the financial crisis registered in the EU over the last two years has created real difficulties for these firms. They can however be helped with a “rapid implementation of the actions provided by the Small Business Act” adopted by the EU. So the European Commission is calling on member states to follow up the commitments they assumed in “some ten political and economic spheres” to support the recovery of the 20.7 million SME that operate in the EU and that provide work to 90 million people. To support this action, in the context of the wider question of projects to counter the recession, the Executive presented in recent days the results of a survey in which it is stated: “With the onset of the crisis in 2008, a positive development that had small and medium businesses as its protagonists was interrupted”. These businesses “are likely to be most badly hit by the crisis in 2010 and in the following years”. That explains the decision to renew the financial and legislative commitment to SME.
