Recognising cross-border adoption: child welfare comes first

MEPs today asked the European Commission to come up with a legislative proposal that would allow families with adopted children to settle freely within the EU, without the need of re-recognition of adoption. They propose, among others, to create a European Certificate of Adoption that would allow the speeding-up of any administrative query over automatic recognition.

“Given the current mobility of EU citizens, we must ensure that families who adopt children are able to fully enjoy the freedom of movement”, commented Tadeusz Zwiefka MEP, Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group and author of the Report on the cross-border aspects of adoptions endorsed today by an overwhelming majority. “There is a clear need for European legislation that would enable the automatic recognition of domestic adoption orders. When such families move to another Member State, it will enable the adoptive parents to benefit from the same rights as biological parents, without any delay or extra procedures. In the case of an accident or access to information on schooling results, the latter is of crucial importance”, he stressed.

“The automatic recognition of judgments already functions in the field of civil and commercial matters. Adoption, however, is a different matter and there are still two cases in which the receiving Member State can refuse to recognise it - when it is manifestly contrary to the public policy, or if the court that issued the order did not have jurisdiction”, added Zwiefka.

Thanks to the Rapporteur’s efforts, special emphasis has been given to issues such as adoptions without parental consent, the hearing of a child during the adoption procedure or the facilitation of the judiciary cooperation, also in order to counteract abductions, trafficking and the sale of children for adoption purposes. The Report provides that the decision to adopt cannot be taken unless the biological parents exhaust all available legal remedies and that before referring the child for adoption it should be first considered to place the child with relatives, even if they reside in another country.

“Adoption is primarily to ensure that children, who have already experienced trauma, are given a loving, supportive and stable environment. To make this happen, the relevant authorities must take into account all the specific circumstances and approach each adoption case individually. Sometimes the best solution for the child is being adopted by a family in another country”, concluded Zwiefka.