Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-274"
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"en.20020410.8.3-274"2
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".
Mr President, by chance you were chairing this sitting in March this year. At this very time and in this sitting I answered a question by Mr Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado and I spoke plainly and at length on this subject.
The question now asked is identical. I could refer you to my reply to Mr Gil-Robles Gil-Delgado, but I am not going to do so; instead I am going to read out exactly what I replied to him, so that everyone will know that the Council has not in fact changed its mind between March and April:
“The European Union has systematically given priority to the issue of human rights and the protection of minorities within its relations with the candidate countries.
“This issue is a key element of the pre-accession strategy for each of these countries, in accordance with the political requirements for accession established by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993.
“In the case of Romania, one of the specific areas included in the pre-accession strategy is childcare. In the Commission’s periodic report for 2000 on Romania’s progress towards accession, the Commission expressed its concern in relation to the legislation and practice on adoption between different countries, which allow considerations other than the best interests of the child to influence decisions on adoption. As a result of this, and other expressions of concern, the Romanian Government decided to suspend international adoptions. In the revised Association for the accession of Romania, adopted by the Council on 28 January 2002, amongst the intermediate priorities and objectives, it is stipulated that Romania must maintain the moratorium on international adoption until new legislation is adopted which is compatible with the interests of the children and with Romania’s international obligations, and the necessary administrative capacity to apply the new legislation is guaranteed. As well as maintaining the general moratorium, the Romanian Government adopted measures in December 2001 to allow for the completion of adoption procedures in those cases which were already before the courts at the time of the suspension of international adoptions. The Presidency of the Council believes that the adoptions of those children whose adoption procedures have already begun in the Member States, with all legal guarantees, should be completed within a reasonable period.”
Actually, the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union – the President of the Spanish Government, Mr Aznar – obtained this commitment when he visited Mr Iliescu and Mr Nastase last November during a tour of capital cities prior to the beginning of the Presidency. There we were given guarantees that the adoptions were to go ahead and, moreover, that they were going to introduce all the legislation needed. Thus the Presidency did this before it started its term of office, and now it intends – as was said in the reply – to ‘closely monitor the situation in Romania in this regard, especially within the bodies created within the framework of the European Agreement, such as the Association Council and the Association Committee.’
I should point out that this subject was raised at the last meeting of the Association Council, and we have also raised it bilaterally with both the Prime Minister, Mr Nastase, and the Foreign Minister, Mr Geoana."@en1
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