Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 11 February 2015 - Strasbourg

Accession of Singapore to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (A8-0003/2015 - Heidi Hautala)

  Doru-Claudian Frunzulică (S&D), in writing. — I strongly support the adoption of stronger cooperative measures to prevent cases of international child abduction. Greater coordination between states is necessary to avoid the temptation, by one of the parents, to secure custody of a child following a separation or a divorce.

The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 makes it possible to resolve, at an international level, those cases in which the courts of both of the states concerned declare themselves competent and award custody of the child to the parent who is a national of their state. Moreover the Convention introduces a system which ensures the immediate return of abducted children.

I welcome the accession of Singapore to The Hague Convention. Considering the number of EU citizens of Singaporean origin, this accession is vital to ensure EU-wide protection of the children in question.