Missing children in the European Union: Mapping, data collection and statistics

The study on missing children was conducted by Ecorys on behalf of DG Justice from July 2012 to June 2013 and had two main objectives: to collect and analyse data and to develop the basis to improve the mechanisms involved when children go missing in the 27 EU Member States; and to use and to build on existing data and indicators to obtain sustainable, comparable data and indicators on missing children in all 27 Member States covering the period 2008-2010 (and 2011 where available).

The outcomes of the study should help improve the mechanisms involved when children go missing in the 27 EU Member States. The study comes at a time when there is already considerable momentum to address child vulnerability across Europe. With greater freedom of movement within Europe and changing patterns of migration to and within the European Union, the movements of children and families are more fluid than ever before, generating a need to analyse and address child disappearances also in a European context. The harmonised services of the 116 000 hotline for missing children and the promotion of efficient child abduction alert mechanisms across the EU27 are already contributing to improving the mechanisms related to the disappearance of a child. However, there remains a significant lack of reliable, comparable, and official data on the situation in the Member States, which is a serious obstacle to the further development and implementation of evidence-based policies to address the issue.