Council of Europe already prepared their European Agency in 2008 ?

The Council of Europe's Deputy Secretary General supports a "Common declaration on international adoption"

Strasbourg, 19.02.2008

Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, today expressed her support for a "Common declaration on international adoption" along with Member of the European Parliament Claire Gibault at a press conference held in Strasbourg.

De Boer-Buquicchio pointed out that "children have the right to know, and be brought up by, their parents as far as this is possible". When it is not, adoption - whether national or international - is and must remain a valid option, she added, stressing that the key objective "must be to protect the best interests of the child".

The Deputy Secretary General stressed that national adoption must be sought first, but when it is not possible then international adoption must be considered, whilst ensuring that no abuses occur. "If we restrict or even ban the possibility of international adoption when no adequate national solution is available we effectively make children pay the price for adults' mistakes and this is not something we can, or are ready to accept," she said.

The two most relevant treaties for European countries on adoption are the 1993 Hague Convention, which deals with inter-country adoption, and the 1967 Council of Europe convention on adoption, which deals primarily with national adoption. The Council of Europe convention has recently been revised in order to bring it in line with social and legal developments. The main innovative aspects of the new draft convention include:

1) An obligation to seek the consent of children of sufficient understanding, as a rule when the child is 14;
2) Requirement that, when consent is not necessary and as far as possible, children are consulted and their wishes and views are taken into account;
3) Request that the competent authorities carry out appropriate inquiries before an adoption takes place;
4) Prohibition of any improper gain as a result of an adoption;
5) Request of consent from the child's father in all cases;
6) An extension of the right to adopt to heterosexual unmarried couples who have entered into a registered partnership, and to single parents.

The draft convention will be considered by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers next week, in the light of the recent judgment by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of E.B. vs. France, in which the court ruled that countries which allow adoption by a single parent must not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation.