ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to evaluate the impact that more explicit integration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in these various EU contexts has had on children's rights. It explores how a more CRC-sensitive approach to European Union (EU) law and policy-making might be achieved. The chapter explores with a brief summary of how children's rights have evolved under EU law over the past 50 years. It examines the legal status of the CRC at EU constitutional level with a view to determining the extent of the EU's obligations to comply with the instrument. The chapter discusses how the CRC has been integrated into EU legislation and the effects. It assesses the extent to which the instrument has been used to inform judicial interpretations of EU law. The chapter suggests how the CRC might be incorporated more meaningfully into the EU decision-making process with a view to enhancing the EU's capacity to uphold and promote children's rights more effectively.
