Chapter 3. The Council of Europe 3.3.1. CHILDHOOD STATELESSNESS There is no right to nationality for children included in the treaties of the CoE, nor is there an explicit provision that says that the child’s best interests need to be the first consideration in any decisions that concern them. However, a number of the wider CoE legal instruments and provisions do relate to preventing and solving childhood statelessness, as well as their best interests and their right to acquire a nationality. This paragraph sets out the key standards in this regard. As was briefly considered in paragraph 1.4.2, European states generally apply the jus sanguinis principle in their nationality laws, meaning that children usually acquire nationality at birth by descent. Where the ECN establishes that a child of a national should acquire the nationality of his or her parent (jus sanguinis) ex lege, it helps to ensure that every child acquires a nationality and thus aids in preventing statelessness.667 Children born to nationals of one of the European countries in the respective country or abroad usually acquire the nationality of their parent(s).668 At the same time, this is a demonstration of the jus sanguinis-bias that Europe has towards the acquisition of nationality; the principle of jus sanguinis remains the dominant principle for the acquisition of nationality, and can have both a negative and a positive effect on preventing statelessness: “The jus sanguinis-principle has some positive effect on the prevention of statelessness: children born to European nationals anywhere in the world are at a minimal risk of statelessness. However, the same principle fosters the assumption that children born to nonEuropean nationals in Europe should be citizens of elsewhere, leaving some of those children at risk of statelessness.”669 However, the ECN and other CoE instruments recognize that only application of the jus sanguinis principle will not prevent statelessness childhood statelessness in all circumstances. To mitigate this, additional safeguards need to be put in place. According to the ECN, a state should provide for its nationality to be acquired by children born in the territory who do not acquire another nationality at birth – who would otherwise remain stateless. States have two options in granting nationality: they can do so ex lege or subsequently, to children who remained stateless, upon an 667 668 669 Art 6(1)(a) ECN; see also Gerard-René de Groot, ‘Children, their Right to a Nationality and Child Statelessness’ in Alice Edwards & Laura van Waas, Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2014) 144–168, 155. Cf ENS, ‘Statelessness Index’ (2021) <https://index.statelessness.eu/> accessed 3 October 2021. Theme ‘Prevention and Reduction’ was selected; Olivier Vonk & Maarten Vink, ‘Global Protection Against Statelessness Database’ (EUI Research Data 2015) <https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/64601> accessed 3 October 2021. ‘Mode S03: descent (birth in country)’ & ‘Mode S04: descent (birth abroad)’ were used and only member states of the CoE were selected. Caia Vlieks & Katja Swider, ‘The Jus Sanguinis Bias of Europe and What It Means for Childhood Statelessness’ (ENS Blog, 17 June 2015) <www.statelessness.eu/blog/jus-sanguinis-bias-europe-andwhat-it-means-childhood-statelessness> accessed 3 July 2021. Intersentia 127