The Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) has adopted the Commission proposal on establishing a European Child Guarantee.
The objective of the European Child Guarantee is to prevent and combat social exclusion by guaranteeing the access of children in need – persons under the age of 18 years who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion – to a set of key services:
- early childhood education and care
- education
- healthcare
- nutrition
- housing
The Child Guarantee is complementary to and consistent with a number of other EU initiatives. It represents a concrete deliverable of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and will contribute to achieving its headline target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
It complements the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, which pools all existing and future initiatives on children’s rights under one coherent policy framework, and makes concrete recommendations for both the internal and external EU action.
Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, said: “I congratulate the Portuguese Presidency and all the Member States on reaching an agreement in record time on the European Child Guarantee, which will make essential services free or affordable to children in need. A child’s background should not dictate the course of the rest of their lives. That’s where we have to step in as policy-makers, to open up doors so that nothing is beyond their reach.”
