”Enough with the excuses about who is competent and who is not”

On Wednesday, 15 March 2023, MEP Irena Joveva spoke at the Strasbourg plenary session in the debate on cross-border adoptions of children from third countries. She pointed out that the price of the lack of a single legislative framework or mechanism for cross-border adoptions will be paid by the children, which none of us should wish for: “Enough with the excuses about who is competent for the matter and who is not. Let’s take responsibility, all of us, and let’s act.”

“Children are our future. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s as simple as that”, began Joveva, stressing that at the same time, as the most vulnerable part of society, “these children are at the mercy of our decisions to take measures to ensure their safety”. In her view appropriate conditions must be created for cross-border adoptions, as otherwise we leave the door open for illegality, the violation of numerous human rights and serious crimes that have devastating consequences in the lives of the victims.

In her address, Joveva focused in particular on the lack of a single legislative framework or mechanism which would serve to prevent potential human trafficking under the guise of cross-border adoptions. She pointed out that there have certainly been many such cases, which unfortunately have gone unnoticed:

“Meanwhile, for years the (European) Commission has been passing on the issue of the lack of regulation to the Member States. Enough with the excuses about who is competent for the matter and who is not. Let’s take responsibility, all of us, and let’s act. Or else … it won’t be us who pays the price. It will be our children. Our future. Does this still sound like a cliché? It’s as simple as that.”

You can watch MEP Joveva’s speech here.

BACKGROUND:

All Member States have national provisions governing adoption, but legal procedures vary considerably across the EU, as substantive family law is a national competence. The European Parliament has been trying to regulate this family law topic with cross-border implications since 2009, when it adopted a Resolution on international adoption in the European Union, which called for consideration to be given to coordinating strategies at European level and facilitating the mutual recognition of the documents necessary for adoption.

In 2017, the European Parliament adopted a resolution with recommendations to the Commission on cross-border aspects of adoptions. At the time, the Directorate for Impact Assessment and European Added Value (EAVA) estimated that, in addition to the social, health and fundamental rights implications for individuals, the cost of the lack of EU rules on automatic recognition of adoption decisions amounted to around €1.65 million per year. Legislation at EU level would reduce administrative and legal costs and better protect the interests of the child and the fundamental rights of adoptive parents.