21/02 2007: Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP (EPP-ED, Greece), rapporteur of the "European Strategy on the Rights of the Child" which was launched on 4 July 2006, welcomes the Commission's draft Decision to reserve the use of the '116000' number specifically for missing children hotlines.
Providing a single number to report missing children represents a concrete example of how the EU, and in particular the European Commission, has made children's rights one of its priorities. As incidents of missing children have substantially increased (according to UK police estimates, approximately 70,000 missing children are reported missing annually), many European countries have already implemented different hotline telephone numbers for parents to report missing children.
Taking into consideration the trans-national character of cases for missing children, the 'same number - same service 116000' will greatly assist parents if they lose their child while travelling or on holiday in another European country, and will also ensure better cooperation among the police services so as to trace missing children and arrest perpetrators. Member States should adopt this initiative for the protection of children's rights by summer 2007.
The issue of the correct implementation of a single hotline number for missing children has already been addressed by a number of MEPs and members of the Intergroup on "Family and the Protection of Childhood" which Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou chairs. During the Intergroup meeting in September 2006, the Vice-President of the Commission, Franco Frattini, delivering his speech on the Strategy of the Rights of the Child, welcomed comments referring to the implementation of the "116 initiative". On 11 December 2006, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, at the Telecom Council, called upon all Ministers to support urgent progress on this Commission proposal. In the near future, a public call will be launched in order to identify other services that may benefit from 116 numbers.
The implementation of the '116 initiative' for reporting missing children is only a first step illustrating pan-European awareness of the protection of children's rights. Close cooperation among the Member States is necessary in order to establish a safe living space for all families in Europe. Such an initiative gives us hope to defend against criminal actions that threaten the safety of our children", said Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou.
Providing a single number to report missing children represents a concrete example of how the EU, and in particular the European Commission, has made children's rights one of its priorities. As incidents of missing children have substantially increased (according to UK police estimates, approximately 70,000 missing children are reported missing annually), many European countries have already implemented different hotline telephone numbers for parents to report missing children.
Taking into consideration the trans-national character of cases for missing children, the 'same number - same service 116000' will greatly assist parents if they lose their child while travelling or on holiday in another European country, and will also ensure better cooperation among the police services so as to trace missing children and arrest perpetrators. Member States should adopt this initiative for the protection of children's rights by summer 2007.
The issue of the correct implementation of a single hotline number for missing children has already been addressed by a number of MEPs and members of the Intergroup on "Family and the Protection of Childhood" which Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou chairs. During the Intergroup meeting in September 2006, the Vice-President of the Commission, Franco Frattini, delivering his speech on the Strategy of the Rights of the Child, welcomed comments referring to the implementation of the "116 initiative". On 11 December 2006, Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, at the Telecom Council, called upon all Ministers to support urgent progress on this Commission proposal. In the near future, a public call will be launched in order to identify other services that may benefit from 116 numbers.
The implementation of the '116 initiative' for reporting missing children is only a first step illustrating pan-European awareness of the protection of children's rights. Close cooperation among the Member States is necessary in order to establish a safe living space for all families in Europe. Such an initiative gives us hope to defend against criminal actions that threaten the safety of our children", said Mrs Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou.
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