Portugal is one of five European countries where the 116000 missing children hotline is in operation - the others are Greece, Holland, Hungary and Romania, with the number also expected to enter into operation soon in Belgium and Slovakia. Available to the public in all the Member States of the European Union, 116000 has already been allocated to hotline service provides in nine Member States. The European Commission (EC) calls, therefore, on Member States to support and give guidance to potential operators of the 116000 hotline, so that children can call this number whenever they need to and from anywhere in Europe.
The EC also reports that the implementation of the other two numbers, 116111 (helplines for children to call for assistance) and 116123 (emotional support lines), reserved in October 2007, is also progressing well. Commission data indicates that 16 Member States (Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania and Sweden) have assigned the 116111 number and that the process is also underway in two further countries (Cyprus and Spain). The Commission reports that 116111 is now operational in nine Member States (Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic and Romania) and is expected to enter into operation soon in five other countries (Finland , Greece, Ireland, Latvia and Sweden).
Meanwhile, 116123 ( emotional support lines) has been assigned in seven Member States (Austria, Slovenia, Finland, Holland, Ireland and Sweden), whereas the assignment process is ongoing in Cyprus. The number is already in operation in Austria, and will soon be operational in another three countries (Germany, Slovenia and Sweden).
Consult:
- 116000 EU missing children hotline working in five Member States http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/276&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Further information:
- Pan-European numbers and services http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/current/pan_european/index_en.htm
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- ''116'' numbers for harmonised services of social value https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=535794
