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Tuesday, October 19, 2004

France and Romania agreed to set up adoption committee

France and Romania agreed on Monday to set up an international committee to help French couples caught out in the middle of adoption proceedings by a Romanian ban on foreign adoptions.

EU candidate Romania approved a law in June under which children can only be adopted abroad by their grandparents, cementing a moratorium on foreign adoptions imposed in 2000 after fears the babies were at risk of abuse.

The law meant that dozens of French couples, who had started adoption procedures before the moratorium, were caught out.

"I proposed to set up an international committee, under the incontestable authority of a credible organisation, which could examine different cases," French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said during a visit to Romania.

The EU, which Romania hopes to join in 2007, warned the Balkan country against easing the ban on adoptions when Romanian officials said in July they were considering allowing parliament to approve the adoption abroad of very ill babies.

Around 130 French couples are estimated to have been caught in the middle of adoption proceedings by the ban, with 35 of these having already met their prospective Romanian child.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/19/2004 04:36:00 pm