Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-03-29-Speech-3-184"
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"en.20000329.10.3-184"2
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"Mr President, in November 1996, the European Commission adopted its first communication on combating child sex tourism. A year later, in November 1997, a European Parliament resolution and a Council statement on ‘Tourism’ revealed the general consensus among the institutions on the broad lines of the Commission communication.
As I am sure you are aware, your support will give us further incentive to pursue this avenue with yet more determination.
Since then, this support has been implemented in practical terms by the setting up of a new budget line, with the funds made available intended for campaigns to raise awareness, within the European Union, and to combat the development of child sex tourism. It has since been expressed in the Council conclusions of 21 December 1999, which display a new firm political commitment to resolving this significant social problem, which we are pledged to do. If, as it is to be hoped, the European Parliament reiterates its support for this approach, then this will strengthen the determination of all the operators involved in combating this scourge. At the same time, further progress in this direction will contribute to our response to the concerns expressed by European citizens at the development of this scourge.
Mrs Klamt’s report follows up the Commission communication of May 1999 presenting the operations carried out in the period 1997-1998 and specifying follow-up operations necessary to initiate and/or implement new actions.
You will have noted that Community measures combating child sex tourism is progressing at a sustained rate along the lines of the strategy initially agreed, aiming, on the one hand, to reduce demand, particularly by means of cooperation with the tourist industry and the relevant NGOs, and, on the other hand, to tackle the sources of supply in tourist destination countries by any appropriate means, including Community policies for external relations and development cooperation.
The importance of this second aspect was, moreover, highlighted by the Commission as early as 1998 when the support strategy for the development of sustainable tourism in developing countries was defined, which stipulated that the problem of child sex tourism should be taken into specific consideration as the subject of structured political dialogue with the countries most affected, particularly at regional level.
The development of child sex tourism flies in the face of the very idea of a human community united on the basis of ideals such as respect and dignity, and public welfare and remembrance. Furthermore, it could be said that, rather than fuelling the ‘regulation versus self-regulation’ debate, the need for efficiency requires us to concentrate on investigating and maximising the use of the synergies between these two modes of operation which, in the case in point, are broadly complementary. Especially since, alongside the progress made towards effective self-regulation, i.e. including mechanisms to monitor the execution of commitments made, the development of police and judicial cooperation in Europe cannot fail to have a positive effect on the suppression of child sex tourism.
The Council joint action of 24 February 1997 on combating the trade in human beings and the sexual exploitation of children, stipulating that each Member State should undertake to review its own national legislation on measures relating to types of deliberate behaviour, is exemplary in this regard. The fact that it is actually possible to be prosecuted by the authorities of two countries, in exceptional circumstances, must not disguise the main contribution of this joint action, to wit, affirming the principle of extra-territorial jurisdiction applicable to one of its nationals or to a person usually resident on its territory.
It is therefore easier to understand the great interest generated by legislative reforms on the subject, as well as their practical interpretation, in terms of the everyday application of the legislation, hence the importance which the European Parliament attaches to assessing the degree to which the Member States actually meet their obligations under this joint action. This assessment may provide the opportunity to focus on suppressing child sex tourism, and to draw up an initial status report.
In operational terms, the raft of planned operations has been implemented steadily. Combating child sex tourism offers the Commission an opportunity to enlist its various services to step up internal coordination. It also affords the Commission the opportunity to step up its cooperation with the national administrations, professional associations and non-governmental organisations involved. Other Commission initiatives in the context of the increased involvement of the tourist industry have also had practical results, particularly in terms of drawing up and strengthening codes of conduct and other self-regulatory mechanisms in the tourist industry."@en1
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