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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (2026/2725(RSP))

On the recruitment of children by organised crime

B-10-2026-0277

on behalf of the ECR Group · Rapporteur: Nicolas Bay, Charlie Weimers

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

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This resolution condemns the recruitment of children by organised crime and calls for a security-first, victim-first response, including stronger penalties, secure detention, confiscation of assets, and removal measures for foreign offenders. It demands that serious child-perpetrated crime not be treated as victimhood alone, and calls for measures such as reporting duties, task forces, compensation, and online platform cooperation.

Key points

  1. Strongly condemns the recruitment and use of children by organised crime and calls for an all-out societal response.
  2. Stresses that vulnerability must not lead to impunity for serious offences committed by minors.
  3. Calls for an aggravating circumstance for recruiting minors and higher penalties for adult organisers.
  4. Supports reviewing age of criminal responsibility and youth-sentencing rules to prevent networks using children as shields.
  5. Calls for secure juvenile detention and strict measures like electronic monitoring and curfews for minors in serious organised crime.
  6. Demands mandatory reporting of suspected gang recruitment by schools and authorities.
  7. Supports joint task forces and operational cooperation between Europol and Eurojust.
  8. Calls for compensation orders enforceable into adulthood and joint liability for those facilitating offences.
  9. Demands freezing and confiscation of criminal proceeds, with assets directed first to victims.
  10. Recalls that member states may withdraw residence rights and citizenship from foreign or dual-national offenders, including minors.
  11. Calls for family-based return orders where the family facilitated the crime.
  12. Calls on online platforms to cooperate with law enforcement and warns about exploitation of young girls and surrogacy risks.

Who is affected

  • Organised criminal groups and networks that recruit children.
  • Children recruited by organised crime, including those who commit serious offences.
  • Foreign and dual-national minors convicted of serious offences, who may face deportation or citizenship withdrawal.
  • Parents, guardians, and family units that facilitate child crime, who may face joint liability or return orders.
  • Very large online platforms and messaging services, which must cooperate with law enforcement.

Legal basis: Articles 2, 3 and 6 of the Treaty on European Union