Children and the European Union

Helen Stalford is Professor of Law and Director of the European Children's Rights Unit at the School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool.

... a timely and valuable contribution to understanding this area of law, examining the current status of children in EU law, and the potential scope for future developments.This book will be particularly useful for researchers in the field of children's rights, and researchers and practitioners in any of the legal fields examined in detail by the author, including family law, migration and child protection. It also provides a useful reflection on the increasing scope of activities of the EU and will be a reference point for researchers into European law more generally. It draws attention to the role of a new actor in the field of children's rights and a developing area of policy debate across the EU, demonstrating a combination of understanding of the EU, and the protection and empowerment of children. It makes a distinctive contribution to the understanding of European law, and of children's rights, which will stimulate the ongoing debate over the effective protection of children's rights in other contexts beyond the EU.

• Introduction: Children and the European Union 1. The Value and Scope of EU Action in Relation to Children Introduction Is There a Need for EU Action in the Field of Children's Rights? The Added Value of EU Action in Relation to Children's Rights The Strategic Importance of Investing in Children's Rights at EU Level Valuing and Facilitating Children's Present Contribution to the EU Does the EU have the Capacity to Regulate Children's Rights? The EU's Institutional Capacity to Drive Children's Rights Forward The Importance of a Reliable Evidence Base Key Dynamics Shaping the Development of Children's Rights at EU Level Defining the Boundaries between EU Action and Domestic Action in the Field of Children's Rights Defining 'Child' under EU Law'Child' as an Age-Based Construct under EU Law 'Child' as a Biological Construct under EU Law 'Child' as a Dependency-Based Construct under EU Law Conclusion 2. The Ideology of EU Children's Rights Introduction Defining a Rights-Based Approach to Regulating Children's Lives The Legal Currency of Fundamental Rights at EU Level Sources of Children's Rights at EU Level The UNCRC as an EU Children's Rights Tool The Legal Status of the UNCRC at EU Level The ECHR as a Children's Rights Tool Children's Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union The EU's Capacity to Advance Children's Rights: A Question of CompetenceAdditional Conceptual Frameworks for Pursuing Children's Rights at EU Level EU Citizenship as a Children's Rights Mechanism Non-Discrimination as a Normative Framework for Pursuing Children's Rights Using EU Non-Discrimination Law to Protect Children's Rights Social Inclusion as a Framework for Protecting Children's Rights Conclusion 3. Children, Family Life and EU Migration Law Introduction Adopting a Rights-Based Approach to Migrant Children's Family Life The Nature and Scope of Children's Family Rights under EU Migration Law Conceptualisations of 'Child' and 'Family' under EU Migration Law The Family Rights of Third Country Nationals under EU Law Restrictions on Children's Rights under Immigration Law The Importance of 'Dependency' in Determining Migrant Children's Family Rights Extricating Children's Family Rights from the Economic/ Self-Sufficiency Nexus?The Nature and Scope of 'Separated' Children's Rights under EU Immigration Law The Importance of Detaching Children's Migration Status from that of their Family Situating Children within Migration Research Conclusion 4. Children's Rights under EU Family Law: Custody, Access and Parental Child Abduction Introduction The Scope of and Reasons for EU Family Law The Position of Children in the Divorcing Family: Sociological Perspectives The Evolution of EU Family Law Regulating Divorce and Parental Responsibility The Nature and Scope of Children's Rights Provision under the Brussels IIbis Regulation EU Family Law and the Best Interests Principle The Content and Scope of the Best Interests Principle under Brussels IIbis The Growing Prominence of Best Interests in Child Abduction Cases? Reconciling Neulinger and Zarraga Brussels IIbis and the Voice of the Child Age and Capacity as a Barrier to Child Participation Divergence Between National Child Consultation Procedures Child Participation and the Six Week Deadline in Child Abduction Cases Conclusion 5. Maintenance, Mediation and the Future of EU Family LawIntroduction Enforcing Child Maintenance Cross-Nationally EU Legal Framework Governing Cross-National Child Maintenance Towards Harmonisation of Family Law? The New Rules on Applicable Law Is the EU Maintenance Regulation Compatible with Children's Rights? Recovery of Child Maintenance under EU Free Movement Law EU Developments in the Field of Family MediationAchieving Effective Cross-National Mediation EU Mediation Directive Mediation: Empowering Adults but Disempowering Children? Problems of Enforcing Mediated Agreements Relating to Children Is a Separate Legal Instrument Governing Cross-Border Mediation Necessary? Children, the Lisbon Treaty and the Future of EU Family LawConclusion 6. Education, Children's Rights and the EU Introduction The Source and Scope of Children's 'Right' to Education The Nature and Scope of Children's Educational Rights under EU Education Law and Policy Upholding Children's Educational Rights as an Aspect of the EU's Social Agenda EU Education Policy and the Open Method of Co-ordination Promoting Children's Agency through EU Education Measures: Active Citizenship and Children's Personal Development Children's Educational Rights under EU Migration Law The Limitations of a Basic 'Equality of Access' Approach to Education Beyond a Basic Access: Rights for Migrant Children Upholding Educational Rights through the EU's Equality Framework Tackling Discrimination in Education on Grounds of Disability Tackling Discrimination in Education on Grounds of Ethnicity: Roma Conclusion 7. Child Protection and EU Law Introduction An Overview of the Legal and Policy Framework Underpinning EU Child Protection Measures EU Child Protection Legislation EU Efforts to Combat Child Trafficking Child Protection Law and the EU Internal Market EU Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Legislation The Development of an EU Child Protection Infrastructure Added Value or Empty Rhetoric? Assessing the Effectiveness of EU Action in the Field of Child Protection Is EU Child Protection Legislation Compatible with Children's Rights? Added Value of EU Intervention in International Child Protection The Enforceability of EU Child Protection Measures Adopting a Multi-Levelled, 'Roots and Branches' Approach to Child Protection Importance of Cross-Departmental and Cross-Institutional Collaboration in Child ProtectionEnhancing the Knowledge Base The Future of EU Child Protection Conclusion 8. Children's Rights and EU Enlargement Introduction Membership 'Conditionality' as a Mechanism for Promoting Children's Rights Children's Rights and the Political Criteria: Using Human Rights 'Conditionality' to Enhance Children's Rights The Importance of Context in Applying EU's Human Rights Conditionality The Selective Nature of EU Human Rights Conditionality Children's Rights and the Economic Criteria Children's Rights and the Legal Criteria Complementing EU Conditionality with Action 'On the Ground' Upholding Children's Rights Post-Accession Acceding to What? Scrutinising the Quality of the EU Children's Rights Measures to which Accession States are Expected to Conform The Mixed Blessing of Enhanced Mobility Rights Following EU Accession Sustaining Children's Rights Protection in the Post Accession Environment Ask Not What the EU Can Do for Children's Rights in the Accession States, But What the Accession States Can Do for Children's Rights in the EU Conclusion Conclusion: The Future of Children's Rights in the European Union The EU's Flawed Conceptualisation of Children's Rights: From Subversion to Insertion to Perversion The Hegemony of the Child Protection Agenda at EU Level More Than Just a Website: Children's Participation in the EU Square Pegs and Round Holes?: Expectations of the EU's Role in Relation to Children's Rights The EU as Regulator, Co-ordinator and Supporter Institutional, Procedural and Political Blockages Achieving Better Accountability—For What and to Whom?