Europe Direct
European parents, teachers and children can access free information about Internet safety at EUROPE DIRECT, the comprehensive information point of the European Commission.
EUROPE DIRECT is the European Commission information service which citizens can access by telephone or by email from anywhere in the European Union for free. Citizens can either dial the free number 00800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or send an email. EUROPE DIRECT is happy to help parents, teachers and children from the European Union to answer all the questions they may have in the field of Internet and online technologies safety.
EUROPE DIRECT actively supports the European Commission Safer Internet Plus Programme, which goal is to promote a safer use of Internet and other online technologies, specially among children, which is a permanent worry for parents from all the 25 European Union member states as showed the latest Eurobarometer, where 40% of the surveyed parents admitted they wished they had more information about how to protect their children against illegal or harmful content on the Internet.
Safer Internet Plus Programme
In the year 2005, the European Commission presented the Safer Internet Plus Programme, a four-year programme which aim is to promote safer use of Internet and other online technologies, specially for children. This Programme is based on the work that the European Union has been developing since 1996 to promote a safer use and tackle illegal and harmful content. The Programme covers all the new online technologies, including mobile phones and broadband content, online games and all kinds of real-time communication, such as chat rooms and instant messages, primarily with the aim of improving the protection of children and minors.
The Safer Internet Programme supports two different networks at national level:
- National hotlines, which allow citizens to report all illegal content they may find out when surfing the net. In Spain, the hotline is actually run by PROTEGELES association and you can find it at www.es.inhope.org.
- Awareness nodes network. Each national node is in charge of carrying out actions (events, training courses or surveys) aiming at raising general public awareness and developing web sites providing information on a safer use of Internet. PROTEGELES association (www.protegeles.com) is also the coordinator of the Spanish awareness node.
- Information for media and appointments to visit the contact centre at Brussels : Michelle Roverelli, Hill & Knowlton, phone: +32 737 95 00, email: mroverel@hillandknowlton.com
- European Comission information
- Communication DG, Unity B1, Europe Direct, Gisela Gauggel-Robinson, email: Gisela.Gauggel-Robinson@cec.eu.int
- Information society and Media DG, Unity E6, Digital content and saber use of Internet, Christine Kormann, email: Christine.kormann@cec.eu.int
- For further information about the Safer Internet; please go to http://europa.eu.int/saferinternet
- For further information about Internet security, please go to http://www.saferinternet.org
EUROPE DIRECT and all questions about Internet safety
EUROPE DIRECT is a free telephone and email service which citizens can access from anywhere in the European Union to ask any question they want about the EU or the EU policies, such as those in the field of Internet safety. Parents, teachers, young teenagers and children from the EU wishing to have more information about a safer use of Internet can contact EUROPE DIRECT. For instance, how can strangers get in contact with young children at chat rooms and why is this dangerous? Why is it dangerous if my child sets up his/her own blog? What should I know when using my mobile phone camera?
Besides, they can get information on existing tools for protecting children (how can I know whether the videogame I want to offer ather additional matters (I have found some pages containing racism/ child pornography on the net, what should I do? My child is being harassed on the Internet/ through the mobile phone, where can I go for help?)
WHAT IS EUROPE DIRECT
The initiative to create this information service was presented during the UK presidency in June 1998, in Cardiff, by Jacques Santer, the then President of the European Commission, and Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister. Later on, in 2000, the service was set up in the then 15 state members. Four years later, on May 1st 2004, the free phone number 00800 6 7 8 9 10 11, unique for all Europe, was made available for the 10 new state members that had just joined the European Union.
Once citizens get in contact with EUROPE DIRECT by email (through its web page) or by telephone (dialling 00800 6 7 8 9 10 11), if the asked question is about a general aspect of the European Union, they will get an answer on the short term but if the question is about a very specific aspect, then the citizen may be referred to an expert on the matter or another entity specialised in conflict resolution. If available, citizens will be referred to a local or regional service for more information.
EUROPE DIRECT’s multi-lingual personnel, based at Brussels, is composed by around 40 operators that have been trained to receive and handle calls in any of the 20 official languages of the European Union and about nearly any aspects of the European Union. Sensitive questions from the political point of view or about specialised matters, will be transferred and answered by the European Commission Directorate General Communication, which is also in charge of checking the quality and the performance rate of the service. All these factors make EUROPE DIRECT to be a high quality call-centre, able to give personalised answers to citizens’ demands. If you need more information about this service, please check http://europa.eu.int/europedirect/.
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