Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-05-Speech-2-150"
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"en.20000905.11.2-150"2
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".
Mr President, I would like to answer the questions from Mr Theonas and Mrs Kinnock together, because they both deal with the need to ensure that child labour is abolished for once and for all.
As regards Mr Theonas’ question, I must emphasise that the European Union fully recognises the importance of abolishing the exploitation of children, which deprives them of their right to a normal childhood and education, and their right not to be subjected to forced labour. The European Union actively supports the action of the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund, better known here as UNICEF. It salutes the adoption of the ILO Convention concerning immediate prohibition and action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, ratified by the United States on 2 December 1999, and it will work to ensure that this convention does indeed help eliminate the most intolerable forms of child labour.
The European Union regrets that the United States has not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Our representatives have been urging the United States to ratify it in bilateral contacts. The Convention has been ratified by the Member States and is of capital importance for the European Union which is actively involved in the current preparations for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, scheduled for September 2001, to assess progress achieved in the field of the rights of the child over the last ten years.
The European Union often raises human rights issues in the context of its political dialogue with the United States and the Council takes note of the case raised by the honourable Member.
On Mrs Kinnock’s question, the Council entirely agrees with her on the importance of good preparation of September’s UN General Assembly Special Session devoted to follow-up of the World Summit for Children. The European Union has started actively preparing for the event. It is one of our priorities for the 55th session of the UN General Assembly. Although the success of the event depends in large measure on the commitment of the international community as a whole, the Council recognises that the European Union can and must play a major role in the preparations, a role encouraged during informal contacts held with representatives of UNICEF.
In addition, the Council is constantly attentive to the rights of the child wherever issues relating to human rights are dealt with. The preparations for the special session are on the agenda of the Council’s human rights group, and it intends to devote a special section of the European Union’s annual human rights report to this issue.
Finally, the French Presidency has proposed holding a European Day of the Rights of the Child to its partners, possibly on 20 November 2000 – but I say that with reservations, because it has not yet been made official.
One last point: the Council is promoting the signature of two optional protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted and opened for signature by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 May 2000, and we hope a lot of countries will sign at the Millennium Summit, which opens tomorrow and will implement these two optional protocols."@en1
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