Declaration of the European Parliament on international adoption in Romania

The European Parliament ,

–   having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas respect for fundamental rights is one of the criteria for accession to the European Union,

B.   whereas the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on the protection of children and cooperation in the field of intercountry adoption, which has been ratified by Romania, provides for essential precautions in the fight against trafficking in children and promotes the best interests of the child,

C.   whereas in June 2001 the Romanian authorities imposed a moratorium on international adoption, which was replaced on 1 January 2005 by a law on the protection of children,

D.   whereas this moratorium was retroactive to 1 December 2000 and consequently abruptly interrupted consideration of several thousands of applications for adoption,

E.   whereas the children whom these applications concerned had already, over a long period, established contacts with their future adoptive families, and whereas this moratorium has therefore placed them for a second time in the situation of being abandoned,

F.   whereas, in paragraph 23 of its resolution of 15 December 2005 on the extent of Romania's readiness for accession to the European Union(1) , Parliament urged the Romanian Government "to settle the cases of applications for international adoption made during the moratorium of June 2001",

G.   whereas the Romanian government has to date not responded to this call,

1.  Calls on the Romanian authorities to take due account of Parliament's opinion and to consequently resume without delay consideration of pending cases, in the best interests of the children, and to authorise international adoption where appropriate;

2.  Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council and Commission, as well as the government of Romania.