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Introduction

The EU’s intention to develop a comprehensive Child Rights Strategy represents an important opportunity for the EU to champion the rights of the child within its borders and across the world.

This position paper presents a set of key principles to guide the Strategy as well as priorities and actions for the European Institutions, Member States, and partner countries to take. The principles and priorities highlighted in this position paper are core principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its General Comments. They are also aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The recommendations build on the existing EU acquis in the field of child rights, Article 3(3) of the Treaty of the European Union which explicitly recognises the promotion of children’s rights in internal and external affairs as an objective of the EU as well as Article 24 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the revised European Consensus on Development. They also take into account other EU policy documents, notably the EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child, the European Commission Communication Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, the EU Framework of Law for Children’s Rights, the EU Guidelines for the Promotion and the Protection of the Rights of the Child 2017 and its Council Conclusions, and the and European Parliament Resolution on children’s rights on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The priorities we suggest for the strategy are structured around the political guidelines of the 2019-2024 European Commission: an Economy that works for people, Protecting our European way of life, a Stronger Europe in the world, a European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, a new push for European democracy.