EU Social Rights: Child Protection, Education, and Migration

Posted on Aug 16, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

One of the most important principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights is dedicated to minors. Specifically, it is the principle of Child Care and Support. It states that: “Children have the right to quality and affordable early childhood education and care. Children have the right to be protected from poverty. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have the right to special measures to promote equal opportunities”.

Youth Policy and EU Strategy

Youth is a national policy, and harmonization of Member States’ legislation is excluded. The EU’s role is therefore supportive, but the Council can adopt recommendations based on Commission proposals. The European Commission has delivered the comprehensive EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the European Child Guarantee. The EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 aims to work towards the fulfillment of the rights of all young people in Europe.

Right to Education

Children have the right to affordable, quality early childhood education and care. There are currently more than 32 million children of compulsory school age in the EU, but only about 15 million are enrolled in early childhood education and care. Demand for places exceeds supply across Europe. The EU aims to support Member States in their efforts to improve access and quality in their education systems.

EU Strategy on Education

  • Council Recommendation on Blended learning approaches to achieve the goal of high-quality and inclusive primary and secondary education (November 2021)
  • Council Recommendation on Pathways to School Success (November 2022)
  • Council Conclusions on the contribution of education and training to strengthening common European values and democratic citizenship (November 2023)

Education to Combat Child Labour

One of the most important instruments for ensuring that children stay in school is to limit access to employment before the age of 15. Most EU countries set the minimum age for access to employment at 15, although some countries, like Spain, set it at 16, aligning it with the end of compulsory education. There are exceptions for what the European Union considers “light work,” which can be carried out by adolescents from the age of thirteen, provided this work does not affect their physical and mental development and does not prevent them from attending school.

  • Adoption of the Decent Work Communication, including zero tolerance on child labour.
  • Proposal for a Regulation on prohibiting products made with forced labour on the Union market (September 2022).
  • Proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence.

The aim of all these rules is to guarantee a minimum level of education for all people, whatever their place of origin or family situation, and to ensure that this education is of the highest quality.

Children and Poverty

Children have the right to protection from poverty. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds have the right to special measures to improve equal opportunities. Breaking intergenerational cycles of disadvantage starts with investing in children to reduce the gap between children in need and their better-off peers in access to key services. The European Child Guarantee aims to break the cycle of poverty and promote equal opportunities by ensuring access to a range of key services for children in need.

European Child Guarantee Services

Member States are recommended to provide free and effective access for children in need to:

  • Early childhood education and care.
  • School education and activities (e.g., appropriate equipment for distance learning and school trips).
  • At least one healthy meal per day.
  • Free and compulsory school meals.
  • Healthcare.

While most children in the EU already have access to these services, inclusive and truly universal access is vital for ensuring equal opportunities for all children, particularly those experiencing social exclusion due to poverty or other disadvantages.

Migrant Children

Migrant children face particular vulnerability due to their age, distance from home, and often separation from parents or caregivers. They require specific and adequate protection. The last two years have seen an increase in the number of migrant children arriving in the EU, many of them without families. Child protection is a cornerstone of the European migration agenda, and the Commission continues to support Member States’ efforts through training, guidance, operational support, and funding. Royal Decree-Law 2/2025, of 18 March, approves urgent measures to guarantee the best interests of children and adolescents in situations of extraordinary migratory contingencies.

Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

Unaccompanied migrant minors are at risk of abuse, trafficking, and exploitation. Measures are taken to address these risks:

  • Rapid identification and protection on arrival: A child protection officer must be in place. Member States should establish protocols for reporting and exchanging information on missing children.
  • Appropriate reception conditions: Upon arrival, all children should have access to legal, health, psychosocial, and educational assistance without delay, regardless of their situation. Placement in foster care or with families should be considered.
  • Rapid status determination and effective guardianship systems: The role of guardians for unaccompanied minors should be strengthened. The Commission will establish a European Guardianship Network to exchange best practices. Reliable age assessment procedures are crucial. Efforts should also be made to speed up family tracing and reunification procedures.

Age Assessment Procedure: Authorities may need to conduct an assessment to determine if a person is a child or an adult when their age is unknown. Age assessment should not be used to estimate the age of someone without documentation who is clearly a child. Age assessment should not be conducted to estimate the age of someone who is without documentation but is clearly a child.

Unaccompanied Minors’ Rights

Unaccompanied minors should be considered CHILDREN BEFORE BEING MIGRANTS. Admission of parents or grandparents of unaccompanied minor refugees for family reunification should be allowed. Prior to deciding on return, provide assistance by appropriate bodies other than return authorities. Before removal, ensure return to a family member, nominated guardian, or adequate reception facilities. Extend voluntary departure periods, considering school attendance and social ties. Pending return, maintain family unity, provide emergency healthcare, ensure access to education, and consider special needs. Unaccompanied minors should only be detained as a last resort and for a short period, preferably in age-appropriate institutions. Border guards must pay particular attention to all minors.

Persons with Disabilities

Principle 17 of the European Pillar of Social Rights underlines that persons with disabilities have the right to income support, services enabling participation in the labor market and society, and an adapted working environment. People with disabilities are more likely to be poor and feel excluded from society. In 2023, 28.8% of disabled people were at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030

The aim is to ensure that people with disabilities in Europe, regardless of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, or sexual orientation:

  • Enjoy their human rights.
  • Have equal opportunities.
  • Have equal access to participate in society and the economy.
  • Can choose where, how, and with whom to live.
  • Can move freely within the EU regardless of their support needs.
  • Are no longer discriminated against.

Immigration Policy

European immigration policy aims to establish a balanced approach to both regular and irregular immigration. The European Commission defines “immigration” as the action by which a person from a non-EU country establishes their usual residence in an EU country for a period of at least twelve months. The characteristics of the European Union Migration Policy are: effective, humanitarian, and safe. The EU and its Member States share competence in immigration.

Four Pillars of the New Migration and Asylum Policy

  1. Secure external borders: Robust screening, Eurodac asylum and migration database, Border procedures and returns, Crisis protocols, and action against instrumentalisation.
  2. Fast and efficient procedures: Clear asylum rules, Guaranteeing people’s rights, EU standards for refugee status qualification, Preventing abuses.
  3. Effective system of solidarity and responsibility: Permanent solidarity framework, Operational and financial support, Clearer rules on responsibility for asylum applications, Preventing secondary movements.

Legal Framework and Competences

The Lisbon Treaty (2009) introduced a new legal basis for integration measures, making Parliament a co-legislator. Provisional measures for sudden inflows of third-country nationals are adopted by the Council after consulting Parliament (Article 78(3) TFEU). The EU shares competence with Member States, particularly regarding the number of migrants allowed to seek work (Article 79(5) TFEU).

  • The EU can decide rules for non-EU nationals living in member states, including family reunification. Member States retain the right to decide on the number of workers admitted.
  • The EU may provide incentives and support for Member States’ integration measures for legally resident third-country nationals. EU law does not mandate identical national laws.
  • The EU must work to stop and reduce illegal immigration, including effective return systems, while respecting fundamental rights. The EU can make agreements with other countries for the return of citizens who do not have the right to stay.

Regular Immigration

The EU manages legal migration flows for highly-skilled workers, students, researchers, seasonal workers, and family reunification. Categories not yet covered by EU legislation include non-highly skilled workers for periods over nine months, investors, and self-employed third-country nationals.

Resettlement

Resettlement involves transferring refugees from a country of protection to a third country with permanent residence status. These programs are voluntary, and UNHCR identifies eligible persons. In 2023, 17 EU countries pledged over 29,000 resettlement places. The 2024-2025 scheme saw 14 EU countries provide 61,000 pledges.

UNHCR Resettlement Criteria

  • Legal and physical protection needs.
  • Survivors of violence and torture.
  • Medical needs.
  • Women-at-risk.
  • Family reunification.
  • Children and adolescents.
  • Elderly refugees.
  • Lack of local integration prospects.

Family Reunification

Family reunification allows legally residing individuals in the EU to be joined by family members, aiding integration. EU rules are set out in the directive on the right to family reunification (exceptions apply to the UK, Ireland, and Denmark).

Asylum Policy

Asylum is a basic human right, as set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention. All EU countries must treat asylum seekers fairly and examine their cases consistently. Procedures must be fair, effective, and not open to abuse. “Asylum shopping,” where asylum seekers move within the EU to find the best country to apply, is a known phenomenon.

Asylum Procedure

The Regulation provides a common, fair, and efficient procedure for asylum applications. Decisions should be made within six months, with an accelerated procedure possible within three months. Safeguarding rights includes:

  • A personal interview on admissibility or substantive elements, with access to interpreters and cultural mediators.
  • Information on rights, obligations, and consequences of non-compliance.
  • Free legal counseling during the administrative stage upon request.
  • Free legal assistance and representation during appeals upon request.
  • Assessment of applicants’ needs for special procedural guarantees.

Illegal Immigration

The total number of illegal crossings at the EU’s external border in 2023 was 380,000. The Central Mediterranean route was the most frequently used path into the EU, accounting for two out of every five irregular crossings in 2023.

Immigration Rules

In 2023, the Commission proposed a directive to modernize and strengthen the legal framework against migrant smuggling, addressing the rise in irregular arrivals and smuggling. The current directive on facilitation of unauthorized entry, transit, and residence has been criticized for lacking legal certainty and uniformity. The Commission issued guidance clarifying that rescuing people in distress at sea cannot be criminalized.

Return Policy and Readmission Agreements

This directive sets clear, transparent, and fair rules for returning illegally staying non-EU nationals. Key features include:

  • A fair and transparent procedure for return decisions.
  • The obligation for EU countries to either return irregular migrants or grant them legal status, avoiding ‘legal limbo’.
  • The principle of voluntary departure, granting a “period for voluntary departure” as a general rule.
  • Minimum basic rights for irregularly staying migrants pending removal, including access to basic healthcare and education for children.