EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The Lisbon Treaty that entered into force in 2009 explicitly refers to‘ the protection of the rights of the child’ within the list of general stated objectives of the EU( article 3( 3) TEU). It also elevated the legal status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU 6, giving the Charter equal legal force as the Treaties. Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU outlines that children have the right to such protection and care that is necessary for their well-being. In particular, it stipulates that every child has“ the right to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship and direct contact with both of his or her parents, unless that is contrary to his or her interests”.
EC Recommendation on Investing in Children
In 2013, the EC adopted the Recommendation‘ Investing in Children: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage’ 7, as part of the Social Investment Package. The Investing in Children Recommendation, which explicitly promotes a child-rights based approach, provides guidance to EU Member States on how to tackle child poverty and promote child well-being in an integrated way based on three key pillars: access to adequate resources, access to affordable quality services and children’ s right to participate. It specifically calls on EU Member States to enhance family support and the quality of alternative care settings. The Investing in Children Recommendation emphasizes that a focus should be ensured on children who face an increased risk due to multiple disadvantages, such as some migrant or ethnic minority children.
European Pillar of Social Rights
Principle 11 of the 2017 European Pillar of Social Rights 8 affirms that children have the right to protection from poverty and specifically points out that children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as some migrant or ethnic minority children, have the right to specific measures to enhance equal opportunities. The Commission Staff Working Document( SWD)“ Taking Stock of the 2013 Recommendation on Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage” 9, published with the European Pillar of Social Rights package, underlines that children in migration and unaccompanied children face a multitude of challenges, including access to integration measures and access to education and healthcare from the earliest moment of arrival. For unaccompanied children, there is a lack of trained and qualified guardians and / or delays in their appointment as well as a lack of adapted accommodation and suitable care solutions. To better support these children, the SWD calls for the promotion of integrated child protection systems and strengthening synergies across policy areas of high relevance for social inclusion. It also highlights the importance of monitoring and improving the situation of children with a migrant background, notably in the framework of the European Semester.
6 _ Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, European Union, O. J. C 326, 26 October 2012, http:// eur-lex. europa. eu / legal-content / EN / TXT / PDF /? uri = CELEX: 12012P / TXT & from = EN.
7 _ European Commission Recommendation‘ Investing in Children: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage’, European Commission, O. J. L 59 / 5, 20 February 2013, http:// eur-lex. europa. eu / legal-content / EN / TXT / PDF /? uri = CELEX: 32013H0112 & from = EN.
8 _“ European Pillar of Social Rights”, European Commission, n. d., https:// ec. europa. eu / commission / priorities / deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union / european-pillar-social-rights _ en.
9 _“ Commission Staff Working Document Taking stock of the 2013 Recommendation on‘ Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage’”, European Commission, SWD( 2017) 258 final, 26 April 2017, http:// ec. europa. eu / social / BlobServlet? docId = 17618 & langId = en.
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