BETA
Home MEPs Dossiers Committees Subjects Blog About Dumps
download json


2016/2575(RSP) Resolution on safeguarding the best interests of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead PETI
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 216_-p2-a2

Events

2016/04/28
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
Documents
Results of vote in Parliament
2016/04/28
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Petitions on safeguarding the best interests of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament.

The committee on petitions has received numerous petitions on practices of child welfare authorities and the protection of children’s rights, child custody, child abduction and childcare over the years from various EU Member States.

Parliament stated that the large number of petitions received on child-related cases indicates that there is a major problem with the implementation of the Brussels IIa Regulation . It considered that all child protection systems should have transnational and cross-border mechanisms in place which take into account the specificities of cross-borders conflicts.

Child protection and judicial cooperation within the EU : in line with the Brussels IIa Regulation, the national authorities are obliged to recognise and enforce judgments delivered in another Member State in child-related cases. Parliament called on the Member States to:

increase and improve the cooperation of their judiciaries in cases involving a child; put in place monitoring and evaluation systems (with relevant socioeconomic and nationality-disaggregated statistics) within a national coordinating framework on cross-border cases involving children; recommends that the Commission coordinate the transfer of information among the relevant Member State authorities.

It also called for a clear definition of ‘ habitual residence ’ in the revised Brussels IIa Regulation.

Members also called on the Commission and the Member States to:

co-finance and promote the establishment of a platform providing assistance to non-national EU citizens in family proceedings; put in place a single European helpline for cases of child abduction or abuse; provide counselling concerning care and adoption proceedings.

The Commission should provide a clear and easily accessible guide with practical information for EU citizens on the institutional arrangements on child protection, with a particular focus on adoption or placement without parental consent and on parents’ rights in different Member States.

Role of social services in child protection : Parliament called on the Member States to take a preventive approach and to ensure appropriate and well-resourced policies to avoid launching care proceedings where possible, by introducing early-warning procedures and monitoring mechanisms and providing adequate support to families as primary caregivers, particularly within vulnerable communities where social exclusion is a risk.

There is also a need for specialised training and education for social workers and all other professionals dealing with cross-border cases involving a child.

Childcare-related judicial proceedings : in this regard, Parliament called on the Member States to:

designate specialised chambers within family courts or cross-border mediation bodies to deal with cross-border child-related cases; systematically implement the provisions of the Vienna Convention of 1963 , and to ensure that embassies or consular representations are informed from the start of all childcare proceedings involving their nationals and that they have full access to the relevant documents; guarantee regular visitation rights to parents, except where this could be detrimental to the best interests of the child, and to allow parents to use their mother tongue with their children during the visits; provide parents, from the outset and at every stage of child-related proceedings, with complete and clear information on the proceedings and on the possible consequences thereof as well as information about the rules on legal support and aid; establish minimum standards for the hearing of a child in national civil proceedings.

Members recommended that thresholds for the duration of each stage in cross-border childcare proceedings be set, so that members of the child’s extended family have sufficient time to come forward and apply to adopt the child, or parents can address their problems and propose sustainable alternatives before the final decision on adoption is taken.

Child placement and adoption : Parliament called on the Member States and the Commission to regulate on recognition of domestic adoption , taking into account the best interests of the child and with due respect for the principle of non ‑ discrimination. Non-contracting states are encourage to join the 1993 Hague Convention, which would guarantee that all children benefit from the same standards.

Members emphasised the importance of offering children in any kind of fostering or adoption arrangement the placement that offers the best opportunities to maintain links with the child’s cultural background and to give particular attention and support to parents, and particularly women, who have been victims of domestic violence.

Cross-border parental child abduction : the Council is called upon to report on the results achieved in establishing child abduction alert systems with cross-border implications, and to conclude the relevant cooperation agreements dealing with cross-border abduction cases on the basis of the Commission guidelines.

Documents
T8-0142/2016
2016/04/28
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2016/04/27
   EP - Motion for a resolution
Documents
B8-0487/2016

Documents

Activities

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

2021-12-18Show (3) Changes | Timetravel
docs/0/docs/0/url
Old
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-8-2016-0487_EN.html
New
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-8-2016-0487_EN.html
events/1
date
2016-04-28T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2016-0142_EN.html title: T8-0142/2016
summary
events/1
date
2016-04-28T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
body
EP
docs
url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2016-0142_EN.html title: T8-0142/2016
summary
2020-01-19Show (3) Changes | Timetravel
committees/0/date
    docs/0/docs/0/url
    Old
    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2016-0487&language=EN
    New
    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-8-2016-0487_EN.html
    events/1/docs/0/url
    Old
    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0142
    New
    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2016-0142_EN.html
    2019-07-06Show (14) Changes | Timetravel
    activities
    • date: 2016-04-28T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0142 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0142/2016 body: EP type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
    commission
    • body: EC dg: Migration and Home Affairs commissioner: AVRAMOPOULOS Dimitris
    committees/0
    type
    Responsible Committee
    body
    EP
    committee_full
    Petitions
    committee
    PETI
    associated
    False
    date
    committees/0
    body
    EP
    responsible
    True
    committee_full
    Petitions
    committee
    PETI
    docs
    • date: 2016-04-27T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2016-0487&language=EN title: B8-0487/2016 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
    events
    • date: 2016-04-28T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=27160&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
    • date: 2016-04-28T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0142 title: T8-0142/2016 summary: The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Petitions on safeguarding the best interests of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament. The committee on petitions has received numerous petitions on practices of child welfare authorities and the protection of children’s rights, child custody, child abduction and childcare over the years from various EU Member States. Parliament stated that the large number of petitions received on child-related cases indicates that there is a major problem with the implementation of the Brussels IIa Regulation . It considered that all child protection systems should have transnational and cross-border mechanisms in place which take into account the specificities of cross-borders conflicts. Child protection and judicial cooperation within the EU : in line with the Brussels IIa Regulation, the national authorities are obliged to recognise and enforce judgments delivered in another Member State in child-related cases. Parliament called on the Member States to: increase and improve the cooperation of their judiciaries in cases involving a child; put in place monitoring and evaluation systems (with relevant socioeconomic and nationality-disaggregated statistics) within a national coordinating framework on cross-border cases involving children; recommends that the Commission coordinate the transfer of information among the relevant Member State authorities. It also called for a clear definition of ‘ habitual residence ’ in the revised Brussels IIa Regulation. Members also called on the Commission and the Member States to: co-finance and promote the establishment of a platform providing assistance to non-national EU citizens in family proceedings; put in place a single European helpline for cases of child abduction or abuse; provide counselling concerning care and adoption proceedings. The Commission should provide a clear and easily accessible guide with practical information for EU citizens on the institutional arrangements on child protection, with a particular focus on adoption or placement without parental consent and on parents’ rights in different Member States. Role of social services in child protection : Parliament called on the Member States to take a preventive approach and to ensure appropriate and well-resourced policies to avoid launching care proceedings where possible, by introducing early-warning procedures and monitoring mechanisms and providing adequate support to families as primary caregivers, particularly within vulnerable communities where social exclusion is a risk. There is also a need for specialised training and education for social workers and all other professionals dealing with cross-border cases involving a child. Childcare-related judicial proceedings : in this regard, Parliament called on the Member States to: designate specialised chambers within family courts or cross-border mediation bodies to deal with cross-border child-related cases; systematically implement the provisions of the Vienna Convention of 1963 , and to ensure that embassies or consular representations are informed from the start of all childcare proceedings involving their nationals and that they have full access to the relevant documents; guarantee regular visitation rights to parents, except where this could be detrimental to the best interests of the child, and to allow parents to use their mother tongue with their children during the visits; provide parents, from the outset and at every stage of child-related proceedings, with complete and clear information on the proceedings and on the possible consequences thereof as well as information about the rules on legal support and aid; establish minimum standards for the hearing of a child in national civil proceedings. Members recommended that thresholds for the duration of each stage in cross-border childcare proceedings be set, so that members of the child’s extended family have sufficient time to come forward and apply to adopt the child, or parents can address their problems and propose sustainable alternatives before the final decision on adoption is taken. Child placement and adoption : Parliament called on the Member States and the Commission to regulate on recognition of domestic adoption , taking into account the best interests of the child and with due respect for the principle of non ‑ discrimination. Non-contracting states are encourage to join the 1993 Hague Convention, which would guarantee that all children benefit from the same standards. Members emphasised the importance of offering children in any kind of fostering or adoption arrangement the placement that offers the best opportunities to maintain links with the child’s cultural background and to give particular attention and support to parents, and particularly women, who have been victims of domestic violence. Cross-border parental child abduction : the Council is called upon to report on the results achieved in establishing child abduction alert systems with cross-border implications, and to conclude the relevant cooperation agreements dealing with cross-border abduction cases on the basis of the Commission guidelines.
    • date: 2016-04-28T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
    links
    other
    • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/ title: Migration and Home Affairs commissioner: AVRAMOPOULOS Dimitris
    procedure/dossier_of_the_committee
    Old
    PETI/8/05985
    New
    • PETI/8/05985
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure EP 216_-p2-a2
    procedure/legal_basis/0
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 216-p2-a2
    procedure/subject
    Old
    • 4.10.03 Child protection, children's rights
    • 7.40.02 Judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters
    New
    4.10.03
    Child protection, children's rights
    7.40.02
    Judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters
    procedure/subtype
    Old
    Debate or resolution on oral questions
    New
    Debate or resolution on oral question/interpellation
    procedure/title
    Old
    Safeguarding the best interest of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament
    New
    Resolution on safeguarding the best interests of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament
    2016-05-01Show (3) Changes | Timetravel
    activities/0/docs
    • url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2016-0142 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0142/2016
    activities/0/type
    Old
    Vote scheduled
    New
    Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
    procedure/stage_reached
    Old
    Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
    New
    Procedure completed
    2016-04-30Show (1) Changes | Timetravel
    activities/0/type
    Old
    Vote in plenary scheduled
    New
    Vote scheduled
    2016-04-16Show (5) Changes
    activities
    • date: 2016-04-28T00:00:00 body: EP type: Vote in plenary scheduled
    committees
    • body: EP responsible: True committee_full: Petitions committee: PETI
    links
    other
    • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/ title: Migration and Home Affairs commissioner: AVRAMOPOULOS Dimitris
    procedure
    dossier_of_the_committee
    PETI/8/05985
    reference
    2016/2575(RSP)
    title
    Safeguarding the best interest of the child across the EU on the basis of petitions addressed to the European Parliament
    legal_basis
    Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 216-p2-a2
    stage_reached
    Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
    subtype
    Debate or resolution on oral questions
    type
    RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects
    subject
    @parltrack
    @parltrack@eupolicy.social
    [javascript protected email address]
    code AGPLv3.0+
    data ODBLv1.0
    site content CC-By-Sa-3.0

    ParlTrack - 2011-2024

    © European Union, 2011 – Source: European Parliament
    Hosted by AS250.net Foundation