Children and European citizenship : their autonomy and entitlement to care under free movement law

Award date: 28 November 2013Supervisor: Professor Loïc Azoulai, European University Institute.PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD thesesThe conundrum on the constitution of Union citizenship is progressively coming to the fore with the development of the case law of the European Court of Justice. This thesis delves into the thematic of what the status of EU citizenship and the associated rights to freedom of movement yield for children in the Union. The topic has received little attention and even if discussed, children's issues are frequently tied to the rights of their parents. The dissertation adopts an alternative approach by examining children's independent position in relation to both the status of EU citizenship and the rights to freedom of movement. The method has been inspired by Article 24 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which recognizes the need to care as fundamental in the protection of children's well-being. The research demonstrates that the evolution of the influence of the concept of European citizenship and the related freedoms has strengthened children's autonomous status and secured their specific interests. This development is found in three EU law branches, used as prisms for reflection on children's interests. First, the research examines the types of dependency used by the EU legal domain in relation to child's EU citizenship status. Second, the simultaneous attachment of children to various Member States, exemplified by the formation of novel types of surnames, raises challenges for the effective protection of children's entitlement to care under the different national legislations. Third, by safeguarding children's right to access to education, the ECJ managed to build a specific EU law hierarchy, beneficial to children's well-being and integration rights in the Union. The progress in the protection of children's rights on EU level has mainly been a result of acts of the judiciary. It is therefore a time for the EU legislator to establish a comprehensive and effective EU children-rights protection framework