As you were

Thanks to the wonders of the internet I have just watched the proceedings of the LIBE Committee in Strasbourg. It was all over in about ten minutes.

I did not expect any upsets or changes from the position reported yesterday and there weren’t any. 16 is set to be the new EU-wide standard but Member States will have an option to choose 13 (or I guess 14 or 15). Any country that wants to go below 16 will need to legislate. I suspect most won’t.

However, I was rather surprised  and disappointed that neither the Chair of the LIBE Committee (Claude Moraes) nor the rapporteur (Jan Albrecht) mentioned or referred to the position of children and the points that the children’s organizations have been making these past few days.

Yet more evidence of the scale of the challenge. “Our” issue really hasn’t registered with the high and the mighty. We have been deluding ourselves.

I suppose on the up side, whether you agree with the outcome or not, it is good to note that the  (powerful) pro-13 lobby (and what it represents)  can be and in this case was  defeated.

PS Apparently, formally, there are two more opportunities where the decision could be changed. One is tomorrow and the other is in January but the whole tone of the discussions suggested that for practical purposes it is all over.