New EU mediator in child custody disputes

Date: 19/10/1995

By Fiona McHugh

IRISH MEP Mary Banotti is to act as the European Parliament's go-between in tug-of-love battles over children when parents of different EU nationalities separate or divorce.

The appointment comes just weeks after EU justice and home affairs ministers decided to launch an investigation into legal anomalies to try to ensure fair and equal treatment for parents and children following the breakdown of cross-border marriages.

Banotti, who was a social worker before being elected to the Parliament, welcomed the appointment and said she would do everything in her power to ease the pain suffered by all parties to such break-ups.

“I am moved and saddened by many of the tragic stories I have heard and I hope I will be able to do something to help,” Banotti said. “There has been a steady stream of petitions flowing into our committee over the years from both fathers and mothers whose children have been abducted,” says Banotti who will now be responsible for drafting Parliament's responses to such petitions.

Reunite, a British support agency for parents and children involved in family break-ups, estimates that at least 1,000 children are abducted from the UK each year by parents squabbling over custody rights. According to Banotti, the number of EU-wide abductions has soared over the past year.

“Most of these are what we call 'going home' cases where the parent (usually the mother) returns home after a marriage break-up. That can be because the parent in question wants to be close to their own mum, or simply because the welfare system in the home country is better than in the country where they are married,” she said.

Efforts to resolve such disputes amicably under the Hague Convention often flounder either because only 43 countries are signatories or because individuals are unable to negotiate legal hurdles involved.

“The most significant purpose of the Hague Convention was to enable children of mixed marriages to cross borders safely,” Banotti told the petitions committee following her appointment.

Denise Carter, Reunite's executive officer, commented: “The convention says you have to use the local legal system. But if you cannot afford it or the legal aid arrives too late, it is not a level playing field.”

Among those calling for a review of the 12-year-old convention is British Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott. “We must work out a better way of settling these cases,” he said. “ I should like to see a situation whereby legal aid and welfare provisions are available throughout the Union where necessary in such situations for those in need.”

EU and national officials are now investigating the current arrangements to determine how they could be improved.