Article 1 
1. The Council hereby authorises Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom to ratify, or accede to, the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Cooperation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (hereinafter referred to as the Convention), in the interest of the Community, subject to the conditions set out in Articles 3 and 4. 2. The text of the Convention is attached to this Decision.
Article 2 
The Council hereby authorises Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands and Poland to make the following declaration: ‘Articles 23, 26 and 52 of the Convention allow Contracting Parties a degree of flexibility in order to apply a simple and rapid regime for the recognition and enforcement of judgments. The Community rules provide for a system of recognition and enforcement which is at least as favourable as the rules laid down in the Convention. Accordingly, a judgment given in a court of a Member State of the European Union, in respect of a matter relating to the Convention, shall be recognised and enforced in … ( 4 ) by application of the relevant internal rules of Community law ( 5 ) .
Article 3 
1. The Member States mentioned in Article 1(1) shall take the necessary steps to deposit simultaneously their instruments of ratification or accession with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, if possible before 5 June 2010. 2. The Member States referred to in paragraph 1 shall exchange information with the Commission within the Council, before 5 December 2009, on the prospective date of completion of their parliamentary procedures required for ratification or accession. On this basis, the date and modalities of the simultaneous deposit shall be determined.
Article 4 
The Member States mentioned in Article 1(1) shall inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in writing when their parliamentary procedures required for ratification or accession have been carried out indicating that their instruments of ratification or accession will be deposited at a later stage in accordance with this Decision.
Article 5 
Decision shall apply from the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Article 6 
This Decision is addressed to all Member States with the exception of Denmark, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia.