Substantial progress has been made in the struggle against child labour and the global number of children in child labour has declined by one third since 2000, from 246 million to 168 million children. Although reliable survey data is limited to provide numbers for the group of industrialized countries, the 2008-2012 period showed a faster rate of decline in child labour. However, it seems that there is no apparent negative effect of the global economic crisis on the global child labour situation as had been feared. The panel will provide an update on the achievements in the fight against child labour, highlight the situation in Europe and discuss the challenges ahead.