Towards an EU measure of child deprivation

This paper proposes a new measure of child material and social deprivation (MSD) in the European Union (EU) which includes age appropriate child-specific information available from the thematic deprivation modules included in the 2009 and 2014 waves of the “EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions” (EU‑SILC). It summarises the main results of the in-depth analysis of these two datasets, identifies an optimal set of robust children MSD items and recommends a child‑specific MSD indicator for use by EU countries and the European Commission in their regular social monitoring. In doing this, the paper replicates and expands on the methodological framework outlined in Guio, Gordon and Marlier (2012), particularly by including additional advanced reliability tests

Speaking with one voice? European Union co-ordination on human rights issues at the United Nations

This article analyses the extent to which the EU acts cohesively and effectively within the UN General Assembly Third Committee and the Commission on Human Rights. There is considerable evidence of increasing EU 'output' at the UN since the early 1990s, but there are serious limits to EU unity posed by conflicting national interests and the persistent desire of Member States to act independently at the UN. Furthermore, the energy required to reach internal agreements restricts the EU's influence within the wider UN syste