WRITTEN QUESTION E-0712/02

by Encarnación Redondo Jiménez (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 March 2002)

Subject: International adoptions in Romania

In Romania, the number of international adoption request procedures in hand runs into thousands (there are over a thousand from Spain alone). In 2001, the adoption of minors came to a complete standstill, and in June 2001 the register of requests was closed. At the outset, those procedures which were waiting a ruling, judgment and conformity with the Hague Convention etc., were allowed to continue, brought to an end and returned to their respective countries of origin. Since then, the situation has worsened, and even when the procedures have successfully gone through all the requisite stages, including a firm ruling in favour of adoption, the children in question are denied authorisation to leave the country.

Following the visits of the French and US Presidents and the Spanish Prime Minister to Romania, these three countries managed to secure authorisation to bring some of the children concerned out of the country, but there are huge numbers of procedures still blocked and of children awaiting adoption.

Is the Commission aware of the difficult situation of children in Romanian orphanages?

What measures does the Commission intend to adopt to help resolve this situation?

Answer given by Mr Verheugen on behalf of the Commission

(29 April 2002)

The Commission is well aware of the situation of children in public care in Romania. Reform of the child care system, focussing on decentralisation and de-institutionalisation, is well under way. The Government has also substantially increased budgetary allocations for the system, as well as for subsidies to families with children with the objective of reducing abandonment. The current implementation of the EUR 25 million PHARE 1999 Programme on Child Protection, which aims at closure of big old style institutions by developing alternative local child protection services and a public awareness campaign on prevention of abandonment and re-integration, should also lead to a significant improvement of child protection in Romania. This programme will be followed by a similar programme for which EUR 10 million have been committed in 2001.

As for intercountry adoptions, there was evidence that economic considerations and financial interests played a role in the decisions that were taken at various stages of the procedure in Romania. In addition, cases of trafficking in violation of the law were reported to the police and the courts. The Commission's 2000 Regular Report(1) on Romania's Progress towards Enlargement expressed concern about this. In the face of this situation the Romanian government has taken a number of decisions that have led to the suspension of international adoptions. In the 2001 Regular Report(2), the Commission welcomed this moratorium and pointed to the need to reform legislation on international adoptions and to develop the appropriate administrative structures and capacity in order to ensure that adoption decisions are made exclusively in the best interest of the child. This should be done prior to international adoptions being resumed.

The Commission can inform the Honourable Member that with respect to transitional measures, the Romanian government has adopted an emergency ordinance on 6 December 2001, providing for the completion of intercountry adoption procedures for cases that had already been dealt with, or were being dealt with, by the courts when the moratorium was decided. This ordinance also allows the government to forward pending cases to the courts in exceptional circumstances. The Romanian authorities are now carefully considering which adoption cases may proceed and a substantial number of pending cases have been resolved.

The Romanian authorities have committed themselves to reforming their legislation and developing the appropriate administrative structures and capacity in order to ensure that in future adoption decisions will be made in conformity with the new legislation, following transparent procedures and exclusively in the best interest of the child. This should be done prior to international adoptions being resumed. In order to achieve this objective, the Romanian authorities are receiving full and coordinated support from the Commission, individual member states and third countries and the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (Unicef).

It must be stressed that the Commission has neither the competence nor the intention to deal with individual cases involving international adoptions.

The Commission will continue to monitor the situation and provide assistance if requested.

(1) COM(2000) 710 final.

(2) COM(2001) 700 final.