Doc. 10617

28 June 2005

International adoption

Motion for a recommendation

presented by Mrs Paoletti Tangheroni and others

1.       Articles 20 and 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, done in New York on 20 November 1989 provide that every child has the right to live in a family environment or to receive alternative protection from the state, recognising that foster placement and adoption are positive and effective means of pursuing the best interests of the child.

2.       The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done in The Hague on 29 May 1993, has so far been signed by 66 states, including many Eastern European countries.

3.       Article 21 of the aforementioned United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child expressly sanctions the possibility of concluding bilateral or multilateral arrangements or agreements, depending on the case, in order to guarantee the best placement for the child.

4.       The concept of European citizenship, and hence of the European family, is becoming increasingly more firmly established, which should make it possible to overcome narrow visions that are likely to jeopardise efforts to pursue the best interests of the child.

5.       A number of countries in Eastern Europe have recently demonstrated a less than positive attitude to international adoptions, and specifically:

a.       in June 2004, Romania enacted and promulgated law 273/2004, making it virtually impossible for children to be internationally adopted by persons resident abroad, by permitting it only if the adoptive parent is the child's grandfather;

b.       in Belarus, a new law became effective on 14 January 2005, based on restrictive criteria, limiting international adoptions to cases of children suffering from pathologies that are untreatable in Belarus;

c.       in Ukraine, the authorities announced on 13 June 2005 that all new requests for adoption from abroad had been provisionally suspended;

d.       in the Russian Federation, there appear to be a number of cases of opposition to the international adoption of Russian children, on the basis of reports of alleged maltreatment of adopted children by adopting and adoptive parents, which may lead to restrictions being placed on international adoptions.

6.       The Parliamentary Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

a.       monitor the aforementioned states to ascertain whether steps are effectively being taken to increase the number of homes for children living in institutions through foster placement or adoption by nationals of those countries;

b.       examine the possibility of fostering the conclusion of bilateral covenants which, by making adoption procedures transparent in countries that have not yet ratified the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption done in The Hague on 29 May 1993, guarantee the best use of the international adoptions procedure;

c.       ascertain whether the restrictions placed by certain states on international adoptions, and hence also on European adoptions, are inconsistent with the overarching interests of the child, considering the very high number of children living in institutions, and acting in total transparency and subject to guaranteed rules, inconsistent with possibility of offering children the opportunity to acquire full European citizenship.

Signed ¹:

PAOLETTI TANGHERONI, Patrizia, Italy, EPP/CD

AZZOLINI, Claudio, Italy, EPP/CD

BARGHOLTZ, Helena, Sweden, ALDE

BOCKEL, Jean-Marie, France, SOC

BOLOGNESI, Marida, Italy, SOC

COUSIN, Alain, France, EPP/CD

DAMANAKI, Maria, Greece, SOC

DUPRAZ, John, Suisse, ALDE

GLESENER, Marcel, Luxembourg, EPP/CD

GUBERT, Renzo, Italy, EPP/CD

HUSS, Jean, Luxembourg, SOC

JÁUREGUI, Ramón, Espagne, SOC

MANZELLA, Andrea, Italy, SOC

NESSA, Pasquale, Italy, EPP/CD

PAPADIMITRIOU, Elsa, Greece, EPP/CD

RIGONI, Andrea, Italy, EPP/CD

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group