Raadsbesluiten over bestrijding kindermisbruik en kinderporno internet (en)

The Council adopted the following conclusions:

"THE COUNCIL Recalling:

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  The Convention on the Rights of the Child signed in New York on 20 November 1989 along with its Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography dated 25 May 2000;
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  The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse¹;
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  The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings;
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  The Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime;

Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, opened for signature in Lanzarote, 25.10.2007, Council of Europe Treaty Series No. 201

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  Recommendation Ree (2001) 16 of the Committee of Ministers to member states of the Council of Europe on the protection of children against sexual exploitation adopted on 31 October 2001;
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  The International Labour Organization Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
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  The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
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  Council Decision of 29 May 2000 to combat child pornography on the Internet; (5/JHA)²;
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  Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and replacing Council Framework Decision of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography (/JHA)³;⁴
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  Council Conclusions of 26 February 2009 supporting the Council of Europe's legislative work in the area of criminal justice;
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  Council Conclusions of 26 April 2010 on an Action Plan against cybercrime;
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  Presidency conclusions of the Cybercrime Conference which took place on 12-13 April 2011 in Budapest ("Budapest Conclusions");

The COSPOL Internet Related Child Abuse Material Project (CIRCAMP);

2 3 4

OJL 138 9.6.2000, p. 1. OJL 13, 20.1.2004, p. 14. OLL [...]

BEARING IN MIND THAT

• 1. 

  The Stockholm Programme — "An Open And Secure Europe Serving And Protecting Citizens" clearly emphasizes that protecting children against the danger of sexual abuse is an important element in the strategy of children's rights. The European Council invited the Council and the European Parliament to adopt new legislation on combating sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
• 2. 

  Further to that invitation, the Council and the European Parliament have adopted the Directive aimed at combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children as well as child pornography, which repeals and replaces Framework Decision /JHA. The Directive demonstrates the willingness of the European Union to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse and enhance international cooperation in this field. It establishes minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions in the area of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children, child pornography and solicitation of children for sexual purposes. It also introduces provisions to strengthen the prevention of those crimes and the protection of the victims thereof
• 3. 

  One of the key issues in the Directive is how to deal with the challenges and the supply of illicit materials created by Internet. The European Union has to be able to effectively respond to challenges which the Internet poses by making child pornography broadly available

UNDERLINES THAT

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  The sexual abuse of children and the production, processing, possession and distribution of child pornography constitute an important form of international crime and is cause for ever-increasing concern, as these criminal phenomena are increasing and spreading through the use of new technologies and the Internet
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  The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse rightly states that "the sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children have grown to worrying proportions at both national and international and that preventing and combating such sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children require international cooperation"
• 3. 

  According to Council Decision of 29 May 2000 to combat child pornography on the Internet (/JHA) Member States are to ensure the widest and speediest possible cooperation to facilitate an effective investigation and prosecution of offences concerning child pornography on the Internet in accordance with existing arrangements and agreements. In addition, the existing channels for communication, such as Europol and Interpol are to be used as well as the cooperation between Member States and these institutions are to be strengthened and intensified to ensure a timely and effective response to these offences
• 4. 

  Moreover the Council Conclusions of 26 April 2010 on an action plan against cybercrime urge EU Member States to make use of the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime for international cooperation in cybercrime matters, to which end all EU MS are encouraged to sign and ratify this convention, if they have not done so already
• 5. 

  Member States make efforts to combat sexual abuse and the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography in cyber space. Efforts are primarily directed at identifying child victims, prosecuting offenders and disrupting crime networks, and they include as well actions to obtain removal of child pornography from the Internet and - in Member States using these instruments - measures to block access to webpages containing child pornography
• 6. 

  Reports from the European Financial Coalition in 2010 and of the Internet Watch Foundation of 2010 learn that the actual number of commercial webpages containing child pornography have decreased considerable. These reports attribute this to the success of law enforcement operation and point at a substation of commercial exchange to exchange on more "hidden places" of the Internet (...)
• 7. 

  The Directive introduces the obligation for Member States to promptly remove webpages containing or disseminating child pornography hosted in their territory and to endeavour to obtain the removal of such pages hosted outside of their territory. In addition Member States may also take measures to block access to webpages containing or disseminating child pornography towards the Internet users within their territory. If measures to block webpages are used by a Member State, these measures must be set by transparent procedures and provide adequate safeguards, in particular to ensure that the restriction is limited to what is necessary and proportionate, and that users are informed of the reason for the restriction. Those safeguards shall also include the possibility of judicial redress
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  Member States encounter problems with respect to the removal of webpages containing child pornography if these are hosted outside of their territory. Therefore the international cooperation must be further developed

(...)

THE COUNCIL CALLS ON THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

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  To explore ways how to improve removal of child pornography, such as strategies to increase the effectiveness of existing procedures
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  To support the development of new tools to detect, report and eliminate child pornography, identify victims, and disrupt networks active in distribution of child pornography
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  To engage in dialogue with the EU's main international partners to facilitate exchange of experiences and foster cross border cooperation to reduce circulation of child pornography on the Internet
• 4. 

  To foster dialogue with the private sector on new ways to cooperate with public authorities in the fight against distribution of child pornography

THE COUNCIL CALLS ON MEMBER STATES

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  To ensure the rapid adoption of national measures to comply with the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography
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  To take measures for signature and ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, opened for signature in Lanzarote on 25 October 2007 and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, opened for signing in Warsaw on 16 May 2005, as soon as possible
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  To consider the use of Europol - within existing competences - to combat child sexual abuse online, including the exchange of information on webpages containing child pornography, their removal or - if practiced by a Member State - blocking
• 4. 

  To promote and support activities aimed at the removal of webpages containing or disseminating of child pornography in EU and Third countries
• 5. 

  To promote and support activities by national authorities and stakeholders, individually and multilaterally, to fight the distribution of child pornography images and (...) to remove those images from the more hidden places of the Internet
• 6. 

  To strengthen and intensify operational and training cooperation between law enforcement officers in Member States and between Member States and Third countries to more effectively fight child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, including the phenomenon of travelling sex offenders, and the production and dissemination of child pornography taking advantage of EU institutions such as CEPOL, for instance
• 7. 

  To develop, strengthen and intensify police and judicial cooperation with Third countries in the field of combating child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation, including the phenomenon of travelling sex offenders, and the production and dissemination of child pornography, including the child pornography distribution in the Internet."