FAMIMOVE Is Back! – FAMIMOVE 3.0 Starts on 1 March 2026

Key Takeaways

• Seven universities collaborate across six EU member states.
• Focus on vulnerable migrant children and legal coordination.
• Three sub‑projects address civil status, abduction, Ukrainian children.
• Project maps child protection measures in six EU countries.
• Interviews give Ukrainian children a voice in policy design.

Summary

FAMIMOVE 3.0 launches on 1 March 2026 as an EU‑co‑funded initiative under the JUST‑2025‑JCOO programme, extending the work of FAMIMOVE 2.0. The two‑year project brings together seven universities from six Member States to study children in vulnerable migration situations. It will map child‑protection measures across six EU countries and launch three transnational sub‑projects on civil‑status document portability, the nexus of international child abduction and migration law, and protection of Ukrainian children. Interviews with Ukrainian minors will be conducted to incorporate their perspectives into policy recommendations.

Pulse Analysis

The European Commission’s JUST‑2025‑JCOO funding underscores a growing recognition that fragmented legal regimes hinder effective protection for migrant children. Building on the scholarly output of FAMIMOVE 2.0—including a Springer‑published volume and two European Parliament studies—the new phase leverages a pan‑European academic network to produce evidence‑based guidance for the EU acquis. By situating child‑protection instruments within the broader context of international family law, the consortium aims to close policy gaps that have long plagued cross‑border cases.

FAMIMOVE 3.0’s core agenda centers on three transnational sub‑projects. The first tackles the portability of civil‑status documents, a critical issue for stateless children and those whose age is disputed in migration procedures. The second explores how international child‑abduction conventions intersect with migration law, seeking harmonised mechanisms that respect both the Hague Convention and EU asylum standards. The third focuses on Ukrainian children displaced by conflict, integrating their lived experiences through structured interviews that fulfill the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’s participation principle. These strands collectively map existing protective measures in six EU Member States, generating a comparative database for legislators.

For policymakers and practitioners, the project promises actionable insights that can streamline cross‑border adjudication and improve child‑centred outcomes. The academic consortium’s multidisciplinary expertise ensures that recommendations are grounded in both doctrinal analysis and empirical fieldwork. As EU member states grapple with rising migration flows and complex family‑law disputes, FAMIMOVE 3.0 offers a template for coherent, rights‑based governance. Stakeholders—from national ministries to NGOs—should monitor forthcoming deliverables, which are likely to shape future amendments to the EU’s private international law framework.