EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 2009 - 2014 Committee on Legal Affairs The Chair 20.6.2013 Mr Martin Schulz President of the European Parliament Subject: Opinion on the motion for a resolution by Cristiana Muscardini on domestic and intercountry adoptions in the Member States of the Union – B7-0459/2012, under Rule 120 Dear Mr President, At the sitting of 13 September 2012 you announced that you had referred the motion for a resolution tabled by Cristiana Muscardini on domestic and intercountry adoptions in the Member States of the Union (B7-0459/2012), under Rule 120, to the Committee on Legal Affairs as the committee responsible. At its meeting of 30 May 2013 the committee decided to deliver an opinion in letter form on the motion for a resolution, under Rule 120(2). It considered the motion for a resolution at its meetings of 11 October 2012, 25 April 2013, 30 May 2013 and 20 June 2013. A hearing was held on the issue on 25 April 2013, with the participation of experts. At the last meeting it unanimously adopted the conclusions below, with 23 votes in favour1. 1 The following were present for the final vote: Raffaele Baldassarre (Vice-Chair), Luigi Berlinguer, Sebastian Valentin Bodu (Vice-Chair), Françoise Castex (Vice-Chair), Sergio Gaetano Cofferati, Christian Engström, Marielle Gallo, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Sajjad Karim, Klaus-Heiner Lehne (Chair), Eva Lichtenberger, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Jiří Maštálka, Alajos Mészáros, Angelika Niebler, Bernhard Rapkay, Evelyn Regner (Vice-Chair), Frédérique Ries, Dimitar Stoyanov, Rebecca Taylor, Alexandra Thein, Axel Voss, Tadeusz Zwiefka. AL\941004EN.doc PE514.675v01-00 EN EN 1. The European Union has no competence to regulate purely national aspects of adoption procedures. 2. Owing to the gradual harmonisation of living standards across Member States, cross- border adoptions within the European Union are now relatively rare. Children adopted across borders in the EU almost always come from third countries. 3. In that sense, the Committee on Legal Affairs does not see any current need for common European rules on cross-border adoptions, as they would rarely be used. 4. In relation to adoptions, the committee's investigations have shown that, at European level, problems arise with the mutual recognition of adoptions carried out in another Member State. Thus, family tragedies have arisen where, following a move from one Member State to another, the authorities of the Member State of destination have refused to recognise the adoptive parents' custody of adopted children in individual cases, resulting in said children being taken into care. 5. The committee notes that the Commission intends to propose, in late 2013, legislation on the mutual recognition of the effects of civil status documents. It is envisaged that this will also cover adoptions. 6. The Committee on Legal Affairs therefore considers that, at this point in time, there is no call for the European Parliament to request legislation seeking to regulate adoption procedures at European level. I should be grateful if you would forward this opinion to the Council and the Commission. Yours sincerely, Klaus-Heiner Lehne PE514.675v01-00 2/2 AL\941004EN.doc EN.