WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1239/98 by Amedeo AMADEO , Salvatore TATARELLA to the Commission. Offences against children
22. 12. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 402/99 Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission (29 May 1998) As a follow-up to its Green Paper on future noise policy (1) the Commission is establishing working groups responsible for the technical preparation of future policy in close cooperation with Member States experts. The outcome of this technical assessment should provide the Commission with the necessary elements for identifying the most appropriate initiatives in the areas referred to by the Honourable Member. The Commission intends to issue a communication on Air Transport and the Environment by the end of the year. Environmental issues arising in and around airports will be among the matters dealt with in that document. (1) COM(96) 540 final. (98/C 402/127) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1239/98 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) and Salvatore Tatarella (NI) to the Commission (29 April 1998) Subject: Offences against children In view of the statement made in the report of theUnited Nations Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court that, where committed systematically or on a large scale, any of the following acts: inflicting pain and suffering, extermination, torture, reducing people to slavery, beatings for political, racial, religious or ethical reasons, institutionalized discrimination involving restriction of liberty and the infringement of fundamental human rights, enforced arbitrary deportation of a population, arbitrary imprisonment, illegal detention, leading a person into prostitution and all other forms of sexual violence, and other inhuman acts causing serious damage to physical and mental integrity, health and human dignity, such as mutilation and grievous bodily harm, constitute crimes against humanity. Will the Commission propose a directive providing that: 1. Organizations which systematically cause suffering to or the death or exploitation of children are equated with all other forms of organized crime ( such as drug trafficking or fraud ); 2. Where offences are committed against children, those offences should be deemed to be crimes against humanity; 3. A childís powers of judgement or his or her alleged consent should be deemed to be an aggravating circumstance in classifying the offences committed? Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission (2 June 1998) The Commission shares the detestation of the Honourable Members of the crimes listed in their question, particularly when such crimes are committed against children. Within the European Union, competence in the field of criminal law and in particular for the classification of criminal offences lies with the Member States, subject of course to their responsibilities and commitments under international conventions and agreements. The Commission actively supports the work of the European drugs unit (EDU) in the fight against trafficking in human beings as covered by its mandate under the Joint Action (1) adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 16 December 1996 extending the EDU mandate to trafficking in human beings. (1) OJ L 342, 31. 12. 1996