A4-0392/96

Resolution on improving the law and cooperation between the Member States on the adoption of minors

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mrs Colli Comelli and Mr Danesin, on behalf of the Forza Europa Group, on improving the adoption laws (B4-0568/94),

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

- having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989,

- having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in particular to Articles K.1(6) and K.3 thereof on judicial cooperation in civil matters, and Article 220 of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 4 November 1950,

- having regard to its resolution of 16 March 1989 on artificial insemination 'in vivo' and 'in vitro' ((OJ C 96, 17.4.1989, p. 171.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 13 December 1991 on the problems of children in the European Community ((OJ C 13, 20.1.1992, p. 534.)),

- having regard to the European Convention on Child Adoption adopted by the Council of Europe on 24 April 1967,

- having regard to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption of 29 May 1993,

- having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the report by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights and the opinions of the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs and the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media (A4-0392/96),

A. whereas the essential objective that adoption must pursue is the benefit of the child being adopted and the protection of that child's rights,

B. whereas the interests of an adopted child are best served by a family unit comprising a father and a mother; whereas, to this end, there must be effective cooperation between state bodies, NGOs and people wishing to adopt children,

C. whereas a child has a right to be brought up by its original parents wherever possible, and in cases where they are temporarily unable to do so must be entrusted to persons capable of protecting its dignity and rights, avoiding the child's institutionalization; whereas when it is established, and verified by the relevant authorities, that a child has effectively been abandoned the child has a right to be adopted, thus breaking its links with the original family,

D. whereas through adoption an abandoned minor becomes the child of the adopting parents,

E. whereas in all the Member States of the Union the birth rate is falling sharply and there is a high number of applications for adoption, only a small percentage of which can be satisfied, which explains the increase in the number of intercountry adoptions,

F. whereas there is now a risk that, as a legal institution, adoption - particularly intercountry adoption - will become debased; whereas its real purpose as a means of providing a home for abandoned children without regard for national borders should therefore be reasserted and more thorough control procedures should be introduced, provided that tighter control does not make adoption impossible in practice,

G. whereas intercountry adoption should only be resorted to in cases where it is impossible - even if appropriate economic and social assistance is provided - for the child to remain in its family of origin or, at the very least, a foster family living in the same country; whereas, however, should the state of abandonment be genuine and duly recognized as such, intercountry adoption should be encouraged, inter alia by means of appropriate measures to make the procedures outside the country of origin transparent and to avoid unnecessary difficulties for the prospective adoptive parents,

H. whereas, therefore, the private arrangements which currently apply with regard to intercountry adoptions must be replaced by a system of compulsory intermediation in procedures which take place outside the country of origin by duly accredited non-profit-making organizations under public control,

I. whereas other procedures such as temporary guardianship or fostering on a national or intercountry basis may be used in emergency situations arising from wars, natural disasters or the plight of under-age asylum seekers,

J. whereas a legal statute for adoptive children must be drawn up and must ensure, on the basis of an intergovernmental cooperation system, mutual recognition of adoptions effected in the Member States,

1. Believes that any legislative or administrative measure to make adoption more straightforward should always form part of a strong policy of financial and social help for families in difficulties and of direct support measures to prevent children from being abandoned or placed in institutional care;

2. Believes that the Member States should contemplate providing in their national law for the possibility of adoption by single people in cases where this is in the interests of the child and adoption by a couple is not possible;

3. Calls on the Member States and the countries applying for accession that have not yet done so to ratify at the earliest opportunity the 1993 Hague Convention mentioned above, so as to resolve the current conflict between legal systems which give jurisdiction over adoption matters to the legal authorities, and those which give jurisdiction to the administrative authorities;

4. Calls on the Commission and Council to bring sustained pressure to bear on non-member countries which are the countries of origin of children adopted in the Member States of the Union, to ratify the Hague Convention as soon as possible;

5. Maintains that the contractual arrangements for adoption provided for in some national legal systems, which are subject only to approval by the courts, can give rise to ethical and legal problems, in addition to contact between the original parents and the adoptive parents;

6. Reaffirms the principle that both national and intercountry adoption may only take place once the child has been declared adoptable by the competent public authorities, where appropriate in cooperation with humanitarian NGOs, and only subject to the assurance that the consent of the relevant persons or institutions or those having parental authority over the child - where such consent is required - has been given freely and in writing;

7. Calls on the Member States to introduce measures to prepare, assist and follow up couples wishing to take part in national or intercountry adoption procedures;

8. Calls on the Member States to standardize the age group in which people willing to adopt children have the right to apply for adoption;

9. Maintains that, given the difficulties involved in intercountry adoptions, Member States should grant approval only after checking that the prospective adoptive parents meet appropriate requirements;

10. Calls on Member States to ensure that only public bodies or organizations which have been duly recognized and accredited by the State and which are totally reliable and non-profit-making are permitted to act as intermediaries in adoption procedures;

11. Deplores, in the light of the Union's ambitions and the issues now facing it, the inadequate degree of progress made on Chapter VI of the EC Treaty, which deals with justice and home affairs;

12. Calls on the Council of Europe to continue, in cooperation with its Member States, its work on the legal and social aspects of family policy in general and adoption in particular, not least with a view to playing, vis-à-vis the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (from which many adoptive children come), its role as a coordinating body between the countries making the transition to democracy and the established European democracies;

13. Calls on the Council and Commission to step up their activity in the legal and social sphere with regard to adoption matters, while complying with the international law applicable, in the course of cooperation with the associated States;

14. Calls on the Commission to submit practical proposals for appropriate measures to promote cooperation in civil matters, designed inter alia to prevent abandonment and to ensure that, wherever possible, children stay in their original family or otherwise in an adoptive or foster family in their own country;

15. Believes it essential for the Council to adopt at the earliest opportunity joint actions pursuant to Article K.3(2)(b) of the TEU seeking to:

- introduce a visa policy to prevent children from being subjected to illicit practices set up by international adoption networks under the pretext of the free movement of persons within the European Union;

- combat the illegal entry of children on the basis of a uniform approach throughout the European Union, the Schengen Information System being a means which could be used in this connection,

- forestall and combat the abduction of and trade in children;

- establish a programme to promote training and exchange initiatives aimed at those responsible for combating the abduction of and trade in children;

- envisage the possibility of extending the mandate of Europol to cover the networks which control the trade in children for adoption purposes, as part of Europol's responsibilities in the area of the trade in human beings;

16. Calls on the competent Community authorities to make specific provision in such joint actions for the introduction of programmes covering prevention and the protection of abandoned children, and for controls to be carried out by the country of origin on the intermediaries required for intercountry adoptions;

17. Calls for the European dimension to be incorporated in the international adoption procedure, so as both to formalize the meeting of central authorities appointed by the Member States and to put in place appropriate decision-making and administrative measures and, in particular, set up an international reference centre in the form of a computerized data bank and a research and assessment unit to assist the adoption process;

18. Calls on the Member States to affirm the principle that adoption is a means of protecting the rights of children rather than those of adults, and thereby to demonstrate adoption's value to society as a means of providing a caring environment, even in cases where parents refuse or find it impossible to bring up their children in a suitable family setting;

19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, UNICEF and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.