Hague Convention (1980) on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: accession of Cabo Verde

PURPOSE: to authorise Member States to accept, in the interest of the European Union, the accession of Cabo Verde to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Decision.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

BACKGROUND: Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 aims to protect children from the harmful effects of wrongful removal or retention and to establish procedures to ensure their prompt return to the State of their habitual residence, as well as to secure the protection of rights of access and rights of custody.

This Regulation complements and reinforces the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which establishes, at international level, a system of obligations and cooperation between Contracting States and between Central Authorities and aims to guarantee the immediate return of children who have been wrongfully removed or retained. All Member States are parties to the 1980 Hague Convention.

As the prevention of child abduction is an essential part of the EU policy to promote the rights of the child, the European Union is active at international level to improve the application of the 1980 Convention and encourages third States to accede it.

Cabo Verde deposited the accession instrument to the 1980 Hague Convention on 4 October 2022. The Convention entered into force in Cabo Verde on 1 January 2023.

CONTENT: the proposed decision aims to authorise Member States to accept, in the interest of the Union, Cabo Verde's accession to the 1980 Hague Convention.

This acceptance by the Member States would have the effect of making the 1980 Hague Convention between Cabo Verde and the Member States of the European Union applicable, with the exception of Denmark.

It should be noted that the Council has already adopted 22 decisions between June 2015 and December 2022 in order to accept the accession to the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction of 30 third countries (Morocco, Singapore, the Russian Federation, Albania, Andorra, the Seychelles, Armenia, the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Peru, Georgia, South Africa, Chile, Iceland, the Bahamas, Panama, Uruguay, Colombia, El Salvador and San Marino, the Dominican Republic, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Honduras, Ecuador, Ukraine, Jamaica, Bolivia, Philippines and Tunisia.