Question écrite de
M. Georg MAYER
-
Commission européenne
Subject: Protecting children’s rights in times of energy crisis
The Commission has adopted a comprehensive EU strategy on the rights of the child and a proposal for a Council recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee. The aim is to promote equal opportunities for children at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The EU’s action has far-reaching consequences for the lives of children in the Member States. Europe’s current energy crisis is sending prices soaring this winter, leaving poorer families and, therefore, many children in need facing yet another major challenge.
1. Does the Commission view rising childhood poverty as one of the consequences of the energy crisis?
2. Are there concerns that the EU’s ambitious climate plans will undermine the promotion of equal opportunities for children at risk of poverty or social exclusion?
3. What specific measures, such as grants for heating bills, does it recommend Member States introduce to mitigate the direct effects of the energy crisis on vulnerable households and ensure decent living conditions for children?
Answer given by Mr Schmit on behalf of the European Commission
(5 April 2022)
Children’s rights are a priority for the Commission. This is why one of the three 2030 headline targets European Pillar Action Plan (1), i.e. reducing ‘the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030’, is complemented by the indication that at least 5 million should be children.
Moreover, the Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation establishing a European Child Guarantee has been adopted by the Council in June 2021 (2).
The European Pillar of Social Rights (3) states in its principle 20 that ‘everyone has the right to access essential services’, including energy.
While Inability to keep one’s home adequately warm (4) is a key measure of poverty, full details of the impact of recent energy price rises on child poverty levels are not yet known as the 2020 EU-SILC (5) microdata monitoring the risk of poverty or social exclusion among children will only be released in second quarter 2022 (6).
The Commission is concerned about the impact of the rising energy prices on the population, especially vulnerable households including children (7).
Against this background, it published in October 2021 a Toolbox (8) guiding Member States as regards measures to mitigate the impact of energy price rises (9).
⋅1∙ Communication from the Commission ‘The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan’, COM(2021) 102 final. These 2030 headline targets were welcomed by EU
leaders in the Porto Declaration of May 2021 and by the European Council of June 2021. ⋅2∙ Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee. ⋅3∙ European Pillar of Social Rights, 2017. ISBN 978-92-79-74092-3 doi:10.2792/95934. ⋅4∙ Inability to keep home adequately warm — EU-SILC survey. [ILC_MDES01], HH050. Latest data available: 2020. ⋅5∙ Statistics on Income and Living Conditions.
⋅6∙ https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-union-statistics-on-income-and-living-conditions
⋅7∙ In 2020, an EU-27 average of 8.2% households declared unable to keep their homes adequately warm. The figure for the EU-27 average of households in the lowest
income decile climbs to 22.36%. Extracted from Eurostat EU-SILC survey: combining HH050 and HY020. ⋅8∙ Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions — Tackling rising energy prices: a toolbox for action and support, COM(2021) 660 final. ⋅9∙ Similar measures are also contained in the Commission Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality, with special attention to people in
vulnerable situations, COM (2021) 801 final.
| | )In March 2022, as part of its communication on REPowerEU (10), the Commission gave additional guidance, i.a. on the possibility to regulate retail energy prices in exceptional circumstances and on how Member States can redistribute revenue from high energy sector profits and emissions trading to consumers (11). Additionally, the Commission has proposed a Social Climate Fund (12).
⋅10∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_1511
⋅11∙ COM(2022) 108 final.
⋅12∙ Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Social Climate Fund. COM(2021) 568 final, page Chapter 1, Article 1: The
measures and investments supported by the Fund shall benefit households, (...), which are vulnerable and particularly affected by the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions from buildings and road transport.