PURPOSE: to authorise Luxembourg and Romania to accept
the accession of Georgia and South Africa to the 1980 Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts
the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being
obliged to follow its opinion.
BACKGROUND: the 1980 Hague Convention has been
ratified by 97 countries, including all EU Member States. It aims
to restore the status quo by mean of the prompt return of
wrongfully removed or retained children through a system of
cooperation among central authorities appointed by its Contracting
Parties.
As the prevention of child abduction is an essential
part of the EU policy to promote the rights of the child, the
European Union is active at international level to improve the
application of the 1980 Convention and encourages third States
to accede it.
The 1980 Hague Convention stipulates that it applies
between the acceding state and such contracting states as have
declared their acceptance of the accession.
As the matter of international child abduction falls
within the exclusive external competence of the European
Union, the decision whether to accept the accession of Georgia
and South Africa has to be taken at EU level by means of a Council
Decision.
Georgia and South Africa respectively deposited accession instrument to the
Convention on 24 July 1997 and 8 July 1997. The Convention is
already into force with 25 Member States in relation to Georgia and
with 26 Member States in relation to South Africa. Luxembourg and
Romania, consulted by the Commission on their willingness to accept
the accession of Georgia and South Africa to the 1980 Convention,
gave a favourable opinion.
Luxembourg and Romania should therefore be authorised
to deposit their declarations of acceptance of the accession of
Georgia and South Africa in the interest of the Union.
As far as parental child abduction is concerned, the
1980 Hague Convention is the international counterpart of Council
Regulation No 2201/2003 (known as the Brussels IIa Regulation).
One of its main objectives is to deter child abduction between
Member States by establishing procedures to ensure the child's
prompt return to the Member State of his/her habitual
residence.
Ten Council Decisions have been already adopted between June 2015 and
December 2016 in order to accept the accession to the 1980 Hague
Convention on International Child Abduction of 10 third countries
(Morocco,
Singapore,
Russia,
Albania,
Andorra,
the
Seychelles, Armenia,
the
Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan
and Peru).
CONTENT: with this proposal for a decision, the
Council is invited to adopt a decision authorising Luxembourg
and Romania to accept the accession of Georgia and South Africa to
the 1980 Hague Convention.
Luxembourg and Romania shall, no later than 12 months
after the date of adoption of this Decision, deposit a declaration
of acceptance of the accession of Georgia and South Africa to the
1980 Hague Convention.
The United Kingdom and Ireland are bound by Regulation
(EC) No 2201/2003 and therefore participate in the adoption and
application of this Decision.
The acceptance of Luxembourg and Romania would render
the 1980 Convention applicable between Georgia and all EU Member
States except Denmark. In relation to South Africa the 1980
Convention will become applicable with all EU Member
States.