2018/2856(RSP) | [ParlTrack]

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2018/2856(RSP) The role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes

Role	Committee	Rapporteur	Shadows
Lead	PETI	WIKSTRÖM Cecilia (ALDE)	VALLINA Ángela (GUE/NGL)

Lead committee dossier: PETI/8/14590
Legal Basis RoP 123-p2

Subjects

4.10.03 Child protection, children's rights

Links

Activites

2018/11/29 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
- T8-0476/2018
2018/11/15 Debate in Parliament
- Debate in Parliament

Documents

Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T8-0476/2018

Amendments	Dossier
63	2018/2856(RSP) 2018/10/04 PETI 63 amendments... Amendment 1 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Citation 8 — having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (Brussels IIa)1 and especially its Articles 8, 10, 15, 16,21, 41, 55 and 57, _________________ 1 OJ L 338, 23.12.2003, p. 1 Amendment 10 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A a (new) A a. whereas the Jugendamt plays a central role in the German family law system as it is one of the parties in all family disputes involving children; Amendment 11 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A b (new) A b. whereas in family disputes involving children the Jugendamt delivers a recommendation to the judges, whose nature is practically binding, and can adopt temporary measures, such as the ‘Beistandschaft’, which cannot be challenged; Amendment 12 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A c (new) A c. whereas the Jugendamt is responsible for the implementation of the decisions taken by the German courts; whereas the broad interpretation of these decisions by the Jugendamt often resulted detrimental to the effective protection of the rights of non-German parents; Amendment 13 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A d (new) A d. whereas the German family law system, and in particular the role of the Jugendamt, must be carefully assessed taking duly into account its unique legal, administrative and cultural background in order to put forward effective solutions to all issues experienced by non-German parents in family disputes having cross- border implications involving children; Amendment 14 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A e (new) A e. whereas non-recognition and non- enforcement by German competent authorities of decisions and judgements taken by other EU Member States’ judicial authorities, in family disputes having cross-border implications, can represent a breach of the principle of mutual recognition and mutual trust amongst Member States, thus jeopardising the effective protection of the best interest of the child; Amendment 15 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A f (new) A f. whereas petitioners denounced that in family disputes having cross- border implications the protection of the best interest of the child is systematically interpreted by the competent German authorities with the need to ensure that children remain in the German territory, even in cases where abuses and domestic violence against the non-German parent were reported; Amendment 16 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A g (new) A g. whereas the procedures adopted by the Jugendamt officials in cases of supervised parental access implied for the non-German parents the prohibition of the use of their mother tongue in their communication with their children; whereas conversations between non- German parents and their children held in a language, other than German, were harshly interrupted by the Jugendamt officials and contacts between parents and children were banned; Amendment 17 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A h (new) A h. whereas non-German parents denounced in their petitions the insufficient or lack of counselling and legal support by national authorities of their country of origin in cases where discriminatory or disadvantaged judicial and administrative procedures were adopted against them by German authorities, including the Jugendamt, in family disputes involving children; Amendment 18 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital B B. whereas all the EU institutions and all EU countries must fully guarantee the protection of the rights of the child as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU; whereas the best interest of the child is a fundamental principle that should be respected as guiding rule for all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels; Amendment 19 # Urszula KRUPA Recital B B. whereas the best interest of the child, primarily and best realised within its own family, is a fundamental principle that should be respected as guiding rule for all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels; Amendment 2 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Citation 8 a (new) - having regard to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union notably its rulings of 22.12.2010, Mercredi, aff. C-497/10 PPU and 02.04.2009, Procédure engagée par A., aff. C-523/07, Amendment 20 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital C C. whereas increased mobility within the EU has led to a growing number of cross-border disputes on parental responsibility and child custody; whereas the Commission must step up its efforts to promote in all Member States, including Germany, the consistent and concrete implementation of the principles set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by all EU countries; Amendment 21 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital D D. whereas scope and objectives of the Brussels IIa Regulation are based on the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality between citizens of the Union and on the principle of mutual trust between the Member States’ legal systems; Amendment 22 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Eleonora EVI Recital D a (new) D a. whereas the provisions of the Brussels IIa Regulation should in no manner allow for any abuse of its underlying aim to provide mutual respect and recognition, avoid discrimination on the grounds of nationality and foremost truly protect the best interest of the child in an objective manner; Amendment 23 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Michela GIUFFRIDA Recital E E. whereas the recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation aims inter alia at removing remaining obstacles to the free movement of judicial decisions in line with the principle of mutual recognition and to better protect the best interests of the child by simplifying the procedures and enhancing their efficiency;deleted Amendment 24 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital E a (new) E a. whereas the absence of accurate and detailed checks on the non- discriminatory nature of procedures and practices adopted by the German competent authorities in family disputes having cross-border implications involving children, can have detrimental effects on children’s welfare and lead to increased violation of rights for non- German parents; Amendment 25 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital E b (new) E b. whereas the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that a court can ask to hear a child who is almost 3 years old at the time of the decision; whereas in other EU countries children of this age are considered too young and not mature enough to be consulted in disputes involving their parents; Amendment 26 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Recital F a (new) F a. whereas the case law of the CJEU establishes the autonomous notion in European law of the "normal residence" of the child and the plurality of the criteria on which the national jurisdictions must determine the habitual residence; Amendment 27 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 1 1. Notes with great concern that the ~~Committee on Petitions~~ problems concerning the last decade has received more than 30 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parentGerman family law system, including the controversial role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), denounced through petitions by non-German parents continue to remain unsolved; underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions by non-German parents in which serious discriminations are reported as a result of the procedures and practices concretely adopted by the competent German authorities in cross- border family disputes involving children; Amendment 28 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 1 1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received more than 30 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), and that many of them ~~involving the~~ alleged discrimination ofagainst the non-German parent and particularly reflect the views of the latter; Amendment 29 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Paragraph 1 1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received ~~more than 30~~a large number of petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parent; Amendment 3 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Citation 12 — having regard to the ~~more than 30~~very large number of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes, Amendment 30 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 1 1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received more than 3250 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parent; Amendment 31 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Recalls that the Committee on Petitions held a fact-finding mission to Germany in 2011, and that this fact- finding mission found no reason to conclude that non-German parents in cross-border marriages are subject to any discrimination by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); Amendment 32 # Urszula KRUPA Paragraph 1 a (new) 1 a. Condemns all cases of discrimination of non-German parents by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); Amendment 33 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 2 2. Points to the long standing work of the Committee on Petitions ~~treating~~on the treatment of petitions concerning the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); ~~acknowledges the detailed~~takes note of the responses given by the competent German ministry on the functioning of the German family law system but ~~underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions concerning alleged discrimination of the non-German parent~~strongly regrets that German competent authorities failed to ensure a proper follow-up to the recommendations and requests by the Committee on Petitions, thus worsening all problems encountered by non-German parents in the framework of family disputes having cross-border implications; Amendment 34 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 2 2. Points to the long standing work of the Committee on Petitions treating petitions on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); acknowledges the detailed responses given by the competent German ministry and by a Jugendamt official, present in the relevant deliberations of the Committee on Petitions, on the functioning of the German family law system but underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions concerning alleged discrimination ofagainst the non- German parent; Amendment 35 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 3. Stresses the obligation, as provided in the Council Regulation Brussels IIa, for national authorities to recognise and enforce judgements delivered in another Member State in child related cases; is concerned of the fact that in family disputes having cross-border implications German authorities can systematically refuse to recognise judicial decisions taken in other Member States in cases where children, who are almost 3 years old, have not been heard; underlines that this aspect undermines the principle of mutual trust with other Member States whose legal systems set different age limits for the hearing of a child; Amendment 36 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Regrets that the Commission did not implement for years accurate checks on the procedures and practices used in the German family law system, including the Jugendamt, in the framework of family disputes having cross-border implications, thus failing to effectively protect the best interest of the child and all other related rights; Amendment 37 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Insists on the importance that Member States collect statistical data on the administrative and judicial proceedings concerning children custody and involving foreign parents, particularly including the outcome of the judgements, in order to allow for a detailed analysis of existing trends over time and provide benchmarks; Amendment 38 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Paragraph 3 a (new) 3 a. Emphasises, following the case law of the CJEU, the autonomous notion of the "habitual residence" of the child in European law and the plurality of the criteria on which the determination of the normal residence must be conducted by the national jurisdictions; Amendment 39 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Calls on the Commission to effectively monitor temporary measures, irreversible decisions and the execution of judicial decisions adopted by the German competent authorities, including the Jugendamt, in family disputes having cross-border implications involving children, with the view to adequately protect the best interests of the children and prevent any potential breach of rights of non-German parents; Amendment 4 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Citation 12 — having regard to the ~~more than 30~~large number of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes, Amendment 40 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Paragraph 3 b (new) 3 b. Calls on the Commission to ensure that such determination of the normal residence of the child has been properly done by the German jurisdictions in the petitions received by the Committee on Petitions; Amendment 41 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 c (new) 3 c. Strongly criticises the absence of statistical data on the number of cases in Germany in which court rulings were not in line with the recommendations of the Jugendamt and on the outcomes of family disputes involving children of bi-national couples, despite the repeated requests for years to collect data and make them publicly available; Amendment 42 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Paragraph 3 c (new) 3 c. Calls on the Commission to assess in the petitions whether German jurisdictions have duly respected the provisions of Council Regulation Brussels IIa when establishing their competences and if they have taken into consideration judgements or decisions issued by jurisdictions of other Member States; _________________ 1a OJ L 338, 23.12.2003., p. 01 Amendment 43 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 d (new) 3 d. Condemns the fact that, in cases of supervised parental access, failure by non-German parents to comply with the Jugendamt officials procedure to adopt German as language during conversations with their children, led to the harsh interruption of conversations and to a ban on contact between the non- German parents and their children; believes that such procedure adopted by the Jugendamt officials constituted a clear discrimination based on origin and language against non-German parents; Amendment 44 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 e (new) 3 e. Is firmly convinced that in cases of supervised parental access, German authorities must permit all parental languages during conversations between parents and their children; asks for mechanisms to be put in place to guarantee that non-German parents and their children can have communication in their common language as its use plays a crucial role to keep strong emotional bonds between parents and their children and ensure the effective protection of children’s cultural heritage and welfare; Amendment 45 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 f (new) 3 f. Firmly believes that a consistent and effective follow-up must be given to the recommendations of the final report of the Committee on Petitions’ Working Group on “Child welfare issues” of 3 May 2017 and notably on those related directly or indirectly to the role of the Jugendamt and to the German family law system; Amendment 46 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 3 g (new) 3 g. Reminds Germany of its international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Article 8 thereof; believes that major improvements must be made by all German competent authorities to adequately safeguard the right of the children of bi-national couples to preserve his or her identity, including family relations, as recognised by law without unlawful interference; Amendment 47 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes that in its proposal for a recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation the Commission4 asks the Member States to collect data in matters of parental responsibility falling within the scope of the Regulation; _________________ 4 COM(2016) 411 finaldeleted Amendment 48 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 4 4. Welcomes that in its proposal for a recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation the Commission4 asks the Member States to collect data in matters of parental responsibility falling within the scope of the Regulation; _________________ 4deleted COM(2016) 411 final Amendment 49 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 4 a (new) 4 a. Considers that in light of Article 81 TFEU the Commission can and must play an active role in ensuring fair and consistent non-discriminatory practices towards parents in the treatment of cross- border child custody cases throughout the Union; Amendment 5 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS Citation 12 — having regard to the ~~more than 30~~hundreds of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes, Amendment 50 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI Paragraph 4 b (new) 4 b. Regrets that the Commission missed a unique opportunity in its proposal for the recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation to address specifically the elements within its current provisions which, instead of protecting the best interest of the child in all cases as it is intended, allow for and de facto shield discriminatory administrative and judicial practices towards non-national parents, such as those depicted in the large number of petitions received during the past decade, of which the Commission was duly alerted; Amendment 51 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS Paragraph 4 c (new) 4 c. Asks the Council to reach an agreement to duly amend the text of the Brussels IIa Regulation during its ongoing recast procedure, in order to incorporate the necessary mechanisms that prevent and redress any discriminatory practices within judicial proceedings and judgements concerning parental custody; urges the Commission to take this approach in any future legislative proposal in this field, including new revisions of the Brussels IIa Regulation; Amendment 52 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 5 5. Calls on the Commission to ensure accurate checks on the non- discriminatory nature of procedures and practices used in the German family law system, including the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), in the framework of cross-border family disputes;deleted Amendment 53 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Paragraph 6 a (new) 6 a. Emphasises the importance of a close cooperation and efficient communication between the different national and local authorities involved in childcare proceedings from the social service to the jurisdiction and the central authorities, Amendment 54 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 7 7. ~~Calls on the Council~~Stresses the need to improve ~~the~~mutual judicial and administrative cooperation ~~and cross-border dialogues between German authorities like the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) and authorities of other Member Stat~~between German authorities and other EU Member States authorities in order to ensure mutual trust in matters concerning the recognition and enforcement in Germany of decisions and judgements adopted by other EU Member States’' authorities in family disputes ~~with~~having cross-border elements involving children; Amendment 55 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 8 8. Recalls the importance to provide ~~parents~~without delay non-German 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; calls on the Member States to inform parents about the rules on legal support and aid; notes in this context that the competent German ministries at federal level have established the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts in order to provide counselling and information, in a language that the concerned parents fully understand in order to avoid cases where parents give their consent without fully understanding the implications of their commitments; calls on the Member States to implement targeted measures aimed at improving legal support, aid, counselling and information for their nationals in cases where they denounce discriminatory or disadvantaged judicial and administrative procedures adopted against them by German authorities in cross- border family disputes involving ~~parental responsibility~~children; Amendment 56 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Paragraph 8 8. Recalls the importance to provide parents at every stage of child-related proceedings with complete and clear information on the proceedings and on the possible consequences thereof; calls on the Member States to inform parents about the rules on legal support and aid; notes in this context that the competent German ministries at federal level have established the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts in order to provide counselling and information in cross-border family disputes involving parental responsibility; Amendment 57 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 8 a (new) 8 a. Stresses that the denounced instances whereby non-German parents are prevented from communicating with their children in their common mother tongue during visitations constitute not only a discrimination on the grounds of language, but are also contrary to the aim of fostering multilingualism and diversity of cultural backgrounds within the Union and in breach of the fundamental right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion; Amendment 58 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Paragraph 9 9. Expresses its concern on cases raised by petitioners about short deadlines set by the German competent authorities and about documents sent by the German competent authorities not provided in the language of the non-German petitioner; stresses the right of citizens to refuse acceptances of documents if not written or translated into a language the person understands as laid down in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007; calls on the Commission to thoroughly assess the implementation in Germany of the provisions of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) in order to properly address all possible violations; Amendment 59 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 9 9. Expresses its concern on cases raised by petitioners about short deadlines set by the competent authorities and about documents sent by the competent authorities not provided in the language of the petitioner; stresses the right to refuse acceptances of documents if not written or translated into a language the person understands as laid down in Article 8 (1) of Regulation No. 1393/2007; of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters; Amendment 6 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Citation 15 — having regard to the ~~final document~~recommendations of the Committee on Petitions’ Working Group on Child Welfare Issues of ~~20 June~~3 May 2017, Amendment 60 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA Paragraph 9 a (new) 9 a. Calls on the Commission to verify the respect of languages requirements in the course of proceeding before the German jurisdictions in the petitions presented to the European Parliament; Amendment 61 # Julia PITERA Paragraph 10 10. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to co- finance and promote the establishment of a platforms providing assistance ~~to non- national EU citizens in family proceeding~~, for example legal, linguistic, psychological, and educational assistance, to non- national EU citizens in family proceedings, such as the Polish Family Support Centre in the United Kingdom or the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts; Amendment 62 # Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Virginie ROZIÈRE Paragraph 11 11. Reminds the Member States about the importance to 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 child care proceedings involving their nationals and have full access to the relevant documents; stresses the importance of a trustworthy consular cooperation in this field and suggests that consular authorities should be allowed to attend every stage of the proceedings; Amendment 63 # Kosma ZŁOTOWSKI, Urszula KRUPA Paragraph 11 a (new) 11 a. Reminds the Member States of the need to provide the child with necessary and justified foster care in accordance with the wording of Article 8 and Article 20 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular to enable continuous childcare that takes into account child's ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural identity; Amendment 7 # Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA Recital -A (new) -A. whereas the child's best interests must be paramount in all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels; Amendment 8 # Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA Recital A A. whereas the Committee on Petitions ~~has received a large number of~~of the European Parliament has been receiving, since more than 10 years ago, petitions oin ~~the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) denouncing alleged systematic discrimination of non-German parents in cross-border dispu~~which a very large amount of non-German parents denounce systematic discriminations and arbitrary measures taken against them by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in family disputes with cross-border implications involving children, on matters con cerning, inter alia, parental responsibility and child custody; Amendment 9 # Julia PITERA Recital A a (new) A a. whereas the Committee on Petitions has no powers to annul court rulings and in most cases can only consider these petitions without having access to their full text, but only on the basis of the position expressed by one of the parents, namely the one addressing the petition; source: 628.512

Amendments

Dossier

2018/2856(RSP)

2018/10/04 PETI 63 amendments...

Amendment 1 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Citation 8

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 (Brussels IIa)1 and especially its Articles 8, 10, 15, 16,21, 41, 55 and 57, _________________ 1 OJ L 338, 23.12.2003, p. 1

Amendment 10 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas the Jugendamt plays a central role in the German family law system as it is one of the parties in all family disputes involving children;

Amendment 11 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A b (new)

A b. whereas in family disputes involving children the Jugendamt delivers a recommendation to the judges, whose nature is practically binding, and can adopt temporary measures, such as the ‘Beistandschaft’, which cannot be challenged;

Amendment 12 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A c (new)

A c. whereas the Jugendamt is responsible for the implementation of the decisions taken by the German courts; whereas the broad interpretation of these decisions by the Jugendamt often resulted detrimental to the effective protection of the rights of non-German parents;

Amendment 13 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A d (new)

A d. whereas the German family law system, and in particular the role of the Jugendamt, must be carefully assessed taking duly into account its unique legal, administrative and cultural background in order to put forward effective solutions to all issues experienced by non-German parents in family disputes having cross- border implications involving children;

Amendment 14 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A e (new)

A e. whereas non-recognition and non- enforcement by German competent authorities of decisions and judgements taken by other EU Member States’ judicial authorities, in family disputes having cross-border implications, can represent a breach of the principle of mutual recognition and mutual trust amongst Member States, thus jeopardising the effective protection of the best interest of the child;

Amendment 15 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A f (new)

A f. whereas petitioners denounced that in family disputes having cross- border implications the protection of the best interest of the child is systematically interpreted by the competent German authorities with the need to ensure that children remain in the German territory, even in cases where abuses and domestic violence against the non-German parent were reported;

Amendment 16 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A g (new)

A g. whereas the procedures adopted by the Jugendamt officials in cases of supervised parental access implied for the non-German parents the prohibition of the use of their mother tongue in their communication with their children; whereas conversations between non- German parents and their children held in a language, other than German, were harshly interrupted by the Jugendamt officials and contacts between parents and children were banned;

Amendment 17 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A h (new)

A h. whereas non-German parents denounced in their petitions the insufficient or lack of counselling and legal support by national authorities of their country of origin in cases where discriminatory or disadvantaged judicial and administrative procedures were adopted against them by German authorities, including the Jugendamt, in family disputes involving children;

Amendment 18 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital B

B. whereas all the EU institutions and all EU countries must fully guarantee the protection of the rights of the child as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU; whereas the best interest of the child is a fundamental principle that should be respected as guiding rule for all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels;

Amendment 19 #

Urszula KRUPA

Recital B

B. whereas the best interest of the child, primarily and best realised within its own family, is a fundamental principle that should be respected as guiding rule for all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels;

Amendment 2 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Citation 8 a (new)

- having regard to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union notably its rulings of 22.12.2010, Mercredi, aff. C-497/10 PPU and 02.04.2009, Procédure engagée par A., aff. C-523/07,

Amendment 20 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital C

C. whereas increased mobility within the EU has led to a growing number of cross-border disputes on parental responsibility and child custody; whereas the Commission must step up its efforts to promote in all Member States, including Germany, the consistent and concrete implementation of the principles set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by all EU countries;

Amendment 21 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital D

D. whereas scope and objectives of the Brussels IIa Regulation are based on the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality between citizens of the Union and on the principle of mutual trust between the Member States’ legal systems;

Amendment 22 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Eleonora EVI

Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas the provisions of the Brussels IIa Regulation should in no manner allow for any abuse of its underlying aim to provide mutual respect and recognition, avoid discrimination on the grounds of nationality and foremost truly protect the best interest of the child in an objective manner;

Amendment 23 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Recital E

E. whereas the recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation aims inter alia at removing remaining obstacles to the free movement of judicial decisions in line with the principle of mutual recognition and to better protect the best interests of the child by simplifying the procedures and enhancing their efficiency;deleted

Amendment 24 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital E a (new)

E a. whereas the absence of accurate and detailed checks on the non- discriminatory nature of procedures and practices adopted by the German competent authorities in family disputes having cross-border implications involving children, can have detrimental effects on children’s welfare and lead to increased violation of rights for non- German parents;

Amendment 25 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital E b (new)

E b. whereas the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that a court can ask to hear a child who is almost 3 years old at the time of the decision; whereas in other EU countries children of this age are considered too young and not mature enough to be consulted in disputes involving their parents;

Amendment 26 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Recital F a (new)

F a. whereas the case law of the CJEU establishes the autonomous notion in European law of the "normal residence" of the child and the plurality of the criteria on which the national jurisdictions must determine the habitual residence;

Amendment 27 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 1

1. Notes with great concern that the ~~Committee on Petitions~~ problems concerning the last decade has received more than 30 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parentGerman family law system, including the controversial role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), denounced through petitions by non-German parents continue to remain unsolved; underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions by non-German parents in which serious discriminations are reported as a result of the procedures and practices concretely adopted by the competent German authorities in cross- border family disputes involving children;

Amendment 28 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 1

1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received more than 30 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), and that many of them ~~involving the~~ alleged discrimination ofagainst the non-German parent and particularly reflect the views of the latter;

Amendment 29 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Paragraph 1

1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received ~~more than 30~~a large number of petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parent;

Amendment 3 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Citation 12

— having regard to the ~~more than 30~~very large number of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes,

Amendment 30 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 1

1. Notes with great concern that the Committee on Petitions in the last decade has received more than 3250 petitions on parental responsibility or child custody in cross-border family disputes and the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), many of them involving the alleged discrimination of the non-German parent;

Amendment 31 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Recalls that the Committee on Petitions held a fact-finding mission to Germany in 2011, and that this fact- finding mission found no reason to conclude that non-German parents in cross-border marriages are subject to any discrimination by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt);

Amendment 32 #

Urszula KRUPA

Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Condemns all cases of discrimination of non-German parents by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt);

Amendment 33 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 2

2. Points to the long standing work of the Committee on Petitions ~~treating~~on the treatment of petitions concerning the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); ~~acknowledges the detailed~~takes note of the responses given by the competent German ministry on the functioning of the German family law system but ~~underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions concerning alleged discrimination of the non-German parent~~strongly regrets that German competent authorities failed to ensure a proper follow-up to the recommendations and requests by the Committee on Petitions, thus worsening all problems encountered by non-German parents in the framework of family disputes having cross-border implications;

Amendment 34 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 2

2. Points to the long standing work of the Committee on Petitions treating petitions on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt); acknowledges the detailed responses given by the competent German ministry and by a Jugendamt official, present in the relevant deliberations of the Committee on Petitions, on the functioning of the German family law system but underlines that the Committee on Petitions continuously receives petitions concerning alleged discrimination ofagainst the non- German parent;

Amendment 35 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3

3. Stresses the obligation, as provided in the Council Regulation Brussels IIa, for national authorities to recognise and enforce judgements delivered in another Member State in child related cases; is concerned of the fact that in family disputes having cross-border implications German authorities can systematically refuse to recognise judicial decisions taken in other Member States in cases where children, who are almost 3 years old, have not been heard; underlines that this aspect undermines the principle of mutual trust with other Member States whose legal systems set different age limits for the hearing of a child;

Amendment 36 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Regrets that the Commission did not implement for years accurate checks on the procedures and practices used in the German family law system, including the Jugendamt, in the framework of family disputes having cross-border implications, thus failing to effectively protect the best interest of the child and all other related rights;

Amendment 37 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Insists on the importance that Member States collect statistical data on the administrative and judicial proceedings concerning children custody and involving foreign parents, particularly including the outcome of the judgements, in order to allow for a detailed analysis of existing trends over time and provide benchmarks;

Amendment 38 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Emphasises, following the case law of the CJEU, the autonomous notion of the "habitual residence" of the child in European law and the plurality of the criteria on which the determination of the normal residence must be conducted by the national jurisdictions;

Amendment 39 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Calls on the Commission to effectively monitor temporary measures, irreversible decisions and the execution of judicial decisions adopted by the German competent authorities, including the Jugendamt, in family disputes having cross-border implications involving children, with the view to adequately protect the best interests of the children and prevent any potential breach of rights of non-German parents;

Amendment 4 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Citation 12

— having regard to the ~~more than 30~~large number of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes,

Amendment 40 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Paragraph 3 b (new)

3 b. Calls on the Commission to ensure that such determination of the normal residence of the child has been properly done by the German jurisdictions in the petitions received by the Committee on Petitions;

Amendment 41 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 c (new)

3 c. Strongly criticises the absence of statistical data on the number of cases in Germany in which court rulings were not in line with the recommendations of the Jugendamt and on the outcomes of family disputes involving children of bi-national couples, despite the repeated requests for years to collect data and make them publicly available;

Amendment 42 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Paragraph 3 c (new)

3 c. Calls on the Commission to assess in the petitions whether German jurisdictions have duly respected the provisions of Council Regulation Brussels IIa when establishing their competences and if they have taken into consideration judgements or decisions issued by jurisdictions of other Member States; _________________ 1a OJ L 338, 23.12.2003., p. 01

Amendment 43 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 d (new)

3 d. Condemns the fact that, in cases of supervised parental access, failure by non-German parents to comply with the Jugendamt officials procedure to adopt German as language during conversations with their children, led to the harsh interruption of conversations and to a ban on contact between the non- German parents and their children; believes that such procedure adopted by the Jugendamt officials constituted a clear discrimination based on origin and language against non-German parents;

Amendment 44 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 e (new)

3 e. Is firmly convinced that in cases of supervised parental access, German authorities must permit all parental languages during conversations between parents and their children; asks for mechanisms to be put in place to guarantee that non-German parents and their children can have communication in their common language as its use plays a crucial role to keep strong emotional bonds between parents and their children and ensure the effective protection of children’s cultural heritage and welfare;

Amendment 45 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 f (new)

3 f. Firmly believes that a consistent and effective follow-up must be given to the recommendations of the final report of the Committee on Petitions’ Working Group on “Child welfare issues” of 3 May 2017 and notably on those related directly or indirectly to the role of the Jugendamt and to the German family law system;

Amendment 46 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 3 g (new)

3 g. Reminds Germany of its international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Article 8 thereof; believes that major improvements must be made by all German competent authorities to adequately safeguard the right of the children of bi-national couples to preserve his or her identity, including family relations, as recognised by law without unlawful interference;

Amendment 47 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Paragraph 4

4. Welcomes that in its proposal for a recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation the Commission4 asks the Member States to collect data in matters of parental responsibility falling within the scope of the Regulation; _________________ 4 COM(2016) 411 finaldeleted

Amendment 48 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 4

Amendment 49 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Considers that in light of Article 81 TFEU the Commission can and must play an active role in ensuring fair and consistent non-discriminatory practices towards parents in the treatment of cross- border child custody cases throughout the Union;

Amendment 5 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS

Citation 12

— having regard to the ~~more than 30~~hundreds of petitions received on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes,

Amendment 50 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI

Paragraph 4 b (new)

4 b. Regrets that the Commission missed a unique opportunity in its proposal for the recast of the Brussels IIa Regulation to address specifically the elements within its current provisions which, instead of protecting the best interest of the child in all cases as it is intended, allow for and de facto shield discriminatory administrative and judicial practices towards non-national parents, such as those depicted in the large number of petitions received during the past decade, of which the Commission was duly alerted;

Amendment 51 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS

Paragraph 4 c (new)

4 c. Asks the Council to reach an agreement to duly amend the text of the Brussels IIa Regulation during its ongoing recast procedure, in order to incorporate the necessary mechanisms that prevent and redress any discriminatory practices within judicial proceedings and judgements concerning parental custody; urges the Commission to take this approach in any future legislative proposal in this field, including new revisions of the Brussels IIa Regulation;

Amendment 52 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 5

5. Calls on the Commission to ensure accurate checks on the non- discriminatory nature of procedures and practices used in the German family law system, including the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt), in the framework of cross-border family disputes;deleted

Amendment 53 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Paragraph 6 a (new)

6 a. Emphasises the importance of a close cooperation and efficient communication between the different national and local authorities involved in childcare proceedings from the social service to the jurisdiction and the central authorities,

Amendment 54 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 7

7. ~~Calls on the Council~~Stresses the need to improve ~~the~~mutual judicial and administrative cooperation ~~and cross-border dialogues between German authorities like the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) and authorities of other Member Stat~~between German authorities and other EU Member States authorities in order to ensure mutual trust in matters concerning the recognition and enforcement in Germany of decisions and judgements adopted by other EU Member States’' authorities in family disputes ~~with~~having cross-border elements involving children;

Amendment 55 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 8

8. Recalls the importance to provide ~~parents~~without delay non-German 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; calls on the Member States to inform parents about the rules on legal support and aid; notes in this context that the competent German ministries at federal level have established the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts in order to provide counselling and information, in a language that the concerned parents fully understand in order to avoid cases where parents give their consent without fully understanding the implications of their commitments; calls on the Member States to implement targeted measures aimed at improving legal support, aid, counselling and information for their nationals in cases where they denounce discriminatory or disadvantaged judicial and administrative procedures adopted against them by German authorities in cross- border family disputes involving ~~parental responsibility~~children;

Amendment 56 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Paragraph 8

8. Recalls the importance to provide parents at every stage of child-related proceedings with complete and clear information on the proceedings and on the possible consequences thereof; calls on the Member States to inform parents about the rules on legal support and aid; notes in this context that the competent German ministries at federal level have established the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts in order to provide counselling and information in cross-border family disputes involving parental responsibility;

Amendment 57 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 8 a (new)

8 a. Stresses that the denounced instances whereby non-German parents are prevented from communicating with their children in their common mother tongue during visitations constitute not only a discrimination on the grounds of language, but are also contrary to the aim of fostering multilingualism and diversity of cultural backgrounds within the Union and in breach of the fundamental right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion;

Amendment 58 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Paragraph 9

9. Expresses its concern on cases raised by petitioners about short deadlines set by the German competent authorities and about documents sent by the German competent authorities not provided in the language of the non-German petitioner; stresses the right of citizens to refuse acceptances of documents if not written or translated into a language the person understands as laid down in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007; calls on the Commission to thoroughly assess the implementation in Germany of the provisions of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) in order to properly address all possible violations;

Amendment 59 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 9

9. Expresses its concern on cases raised by petitioners about short deadlines set by the competent authorities and about documents sent by the competent authorities not provided in the language of the petitioner; stresses the right to refuse acceptances of documents if not written or translated into a language the person understands as laid down in Article 8 (1) of Regulation No. 1393/2007; of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters;

Amendment 6 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Citation 15

— having regard to the ~~final document~~recommendations of the Committee on Petitions’ Working Group on Child Welfare Issues of ~~20 June~~3 May 2017,

Amendment 60 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA

Paragraph 9 a (new)

9 a. Calls on the Commission to verify the respect of languages requirements in the course of proceeding before the German jurisdictions in the petitions presented to the European Parliament;

Amendment 61 #

Julia PITERA

Paragraph 10

10. Reiterates its call on the Commission and the Member States to co- finance and promote the establishment of a platforms providing assistance ~~to non- national EU citizens in family proceeding~~, for example legal, linguistic, psychological, and educational assistance, to non- national EU citizens in family proceedings, such as the Polish Family Support Centre in the United Kingdom or the German Central Contact Point for Cross-border Family Conflicts;

Amendment 62 #

Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Virginie ROZIÈRE

Paragraph 11

11. Reminds the Member States about the importance to 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 child care proceedings involving their nationals and have full access to the relevant documents; stresses the importance of a trustworthy consular cooperation in this field and suggests that consular authorities should be allowed to attend every stage of the proceedings;

Amendment 63 #

Kosma ZŁOTOWSKI, Urszula KRUPA

Paragraph 11 a (new)

11 a. Reminds the Member States of the need to provide the child with necessary and justified foster care in accordance with the wording of Article 8 and Article 20 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular to enable continuous childcare that takes into account child's ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural identity;

Amendment 7 #

Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Sofia SAKORAFA, Michela GIUFFRIDA

Recital -A (new)

-A. whereas the child's best interests must be paramount in all decisions related to childcare issues at all levels;

Amendment 8 #

Eleonora EVI, Ángela VALLINA, Virginie ROZIÈRE, Miroslavs MITROFANOVS, Laura FERRARA

Recital A

A. whereas the Committee on Petitions ~~has received a large number of~~of the European Parliament has been receiving, since more than 10 years ago, petitions oin ~~the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) denouncing alleged systematic discrimination of non-German parents in cross-border dispu~~which a very large amount of non-German parents denounce systematic discriminations and arbitrary measures taken against them by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in family disputes with cross-border implications involving children, on matters con cerning, inter alia, parental responsibility and child custody;

Amendment 9 #

Julia PITERA

Recital A a (new)

A a. whereas the Committee on Petitions has no powers to annul court rulings and in most cases can only consider these petitions without having access to their full text, but only on the basis of the position expressed by one of the parents, namely the one addressing the petition;

source: 628.512

History

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

2019-07-06Show (13) Changes | Timetravel

activities	date: 2018-11-15T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20181115&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament date: 2018-11-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2018-0476 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0476/2018 body: EP type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
commission	body: EC dg: Justice and Consumers commissioner: JOUROVÁ Věra
committees/0	type Responsible Committee body EP committee_full Petitions committee PETI associated False date 2018-06-19T00:00:00 rapporteur name: WIKSTRÖM Cecilia group: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe abbr: ALDE shadows name: VALLINA Ángela group: European United Left - Nordic Green Left abbr: GUE/NGL
committees/0	body EP shadows group: GUE/NGL name: VALLINA Ángela responsible True committee PETI date 2018-06-19T00:00:00 committee_full Petitions rapporteur group: ALDE name: WIKSTRÖM Cecilia
docs	date: 2018-10-04T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE628.512 title: PE628.512 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP date: 2018-11-29T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&reference=B8-2018-0546&language=EN title: B8-0546/2018 type: Motion for a resolution body: EP
events	date: 2018-11-15T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20181115&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament date: 2018-11-29T00:00:00 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-2018-0476 title: T8-0476/2018 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 580 votes to 18 with 36 abstentions a resolution tabled by the Committee on Petitions on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes. It noted with concern the fact that Parliament’s Committee on Petitions has, for over 10 years, been receiving petitions in which a very large number of non-German parents denounce systematic discrimination and arbitrary measures taken against them by the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in family disputes with cross-border implications involving children, on matters concerning, inter alia, parental responsibility and child custody. Whilst noting that the subsidiarity principle applies in issues of substantive family law, Parliament considered that in light of Article 81 of the TFEU the Commission can and must play an active role in ensuring fair and consistent non-discriminatory practices towards parents in the treatment of cross-border child custody cases throughout the Union. Best interests of the child : petitioners denounced the fact that in such cases, the best interests of the child is systematically interpreted by the competent German authorities as the need to ensure that children remain on German territory , even in cases where abuse and domestic violence against the non-German parent have been reported. Parliament regretted the fact that for years the Commission has not implemented accurate checks on the procedures and practices used in the German family law system, including the Jugendamt, in the framework of family disputes having cross-border implications, thus failing to effectively protect the best interests of the child and all other related rights. Short deadlines : Parliament expressed its concern about cases raised by petitioners regarding short deadlines set by the competent German authorities and documents sent by the competent German authorities, which were not provided in the language of the non-German petitioner. It called on the Commission to assess the implementation in Germany of the provisions of Regulation (EC) 1393/2007 on the service of documents in order to properly address all possible violations, stressing the right of citizens to refuse to accept documents that are not written or translated into a language they understand. Mutual recognition: Parliament expressed concern about the fact that in family disputes having cross-border implications, the German authorities can, allegedly, systematically refuse to recognise judicial decisions taken in other Member States in cases where children who are still not quite three years old have not been heard. Members underlined that this aspect undermines the principle of mutual trust with other Member States whose legal systems set different age limits for the hearing of a child. They also stressed the obligation, as provided for in the Brussels IIa Regulation , for national authorities to recognise and enforce judgments delivered in another Member State in child-related cases. Parliament called on the Commission to assess in the petitions in question whether German jurisdictions have duly respected the provisions of the Brussels IIa Regulation when establishing their competences, and whether they have taken into consideration judgments or decisions issued by jurisdictions of other Member States. Habitual residence of the child : Members referred to the autonomous notion of the ‘habitual residence’ of the child in EU law and the plurality of the criteria to be used by the national jurisdictions to determine the habitual residence. They called on the Commission to ensure that the habitual residence of the child has been properly determined by the German jurisdictions in the cases referred to in the petitions received by the Committee on Petitions. Parental language : Parliament condemned the fact that failure by non-German parents to use the German language during conversations with their children has led to the interruption of conversations and to a ban on contact between the non-German parents and their children. This procedure adopted by the Jugendamt officials constitutes clear discrimination based on origin and language against non-German parents. Members asked for mechanisms to be put in place to guarantee that non-German parents and their children can communicate in their common language. Statistical data : Parliament strongly criticised the absence of statistical data on the number of cases in Germany in which court rulings were not in line with the recommendations of the Jugendamt and on the outcomes of family disputes involving children of binational couples, despite the repeated requests over many years. It insisted on the importance of Member States collecting such data on the administrative and judicial proceedings concerning child custody and involving foreign parents, in order to allow for a detailed analysis of existing trends over time and to provide benchmarks. Support for non-German nationals : in order to avoid cases where parents give their consent without fully understanding the implications of their commitments, Parliament called on Member States to implement targeted measures aimed at improving legal support, aid, counselling and information for their nationals in cases where they denounce discriminatory or disadvantageous judicial and administrative procedures adopted against them by the German authorities in cross-border family disputes involving children. Furthermore, Parliament called on the Commission to: increase training for and international exchanges between social services officials in order to raise awareness of the functioning of their counterparts in other Member States and to exchange good practices ; co-finance with Member States the establishment of a platform providing assistance to non-national EU citizens in family proceedings; Lastly, Parliament wanted to see effective follow-up to the recommendations of the final report of 3 May 2017 of the Committee on Petitions’ Working Group on Child Welfare Issues, and notably to those related directly or indirectly to the role of the Jugendamt and to the German family law system. date: 2018-11-29T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
links
other	body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/justice-and-consumers_en title: Justice and Consumers commissioner: JOUROVÁ Věra
procedure/dossier_of_the_committee	Old PETI/8/14590 New PETI/8/14590
procedure/legal_basis/0	Rules of Procedure EP 132-p2
procedure/legal_basis/0	Rules of Procedure EP 123-p2
procedure/subject	Old 4.10.03 Child protection, children's rights New 4.10.02 Family policy, family law, parental leave 4.10.03 Child protection, children's rights
procedure/title	Old The role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes New Resolution on the role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes

2018-12-05Show (3) Changes | Timetravel

activities/1/docs	url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P8-TA-2018-0476 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T8-0476/2018
activities/1/type	Old Vote in plenary 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

2018-11-21Show (1) Changes | Timetravel

activities/0/docs

url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20181115&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament

2018-11-16Show (1) Changes | Timetravel

activities/0/type

Old

Debate in plenary scheduled

New

Debate in Parliament

2018-11-14Show (1) Changes | Timetravel

activities/1

date: 2018-11-29T00:00:00

body: EP

type: Vote in plenary scheduled

2018-11-10Show (5) Changes

activities	date: 2018-11-15T00:00:00 body: EP type: Debate in plenary scheduled
committees	body: EP shadows: group: GUE/NGL name: VALLINA Ángela responsible: True committee: PETI date: 2018-06-19T00:00:00 committee_full: Petitions rapporteur: group: ALDE name: WIKSTRÖM Cecilia
links
other	body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/justice-and-consumers_en title: Justice and Consumers commissioner: JOUROVÁ Věra
procedure	dossier_of_the_committee PETI/8/14590 geographical_area Germany FR reference 2018/2856(RSP) title The role of the German Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt) in cross-border family disputes legal_basis Rules of Procedure EP 123-p2 stage_reached Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage subtype Resolution on statement type RSP - Resolutions on topical subjects subject 4.10.03 Child protection, children's rights

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