On 8 May 2009, ten-year old Leonardo and his six‑year old brother Nicolò were taken, on the orders of Germany’s ‘Jugendamt’ and unbeknown to their mother, from their school in Milan and sent immediately to Germany to rejoin their father there. This shocking case is just one more to be added to the many other cases already condemned by Mr Libicki in a report produced by Parliament’s Committee on Petitions. The report recognised that many members of the European public are very worried by the Jugendamt’s actions and feel that there is an inherent problem of discrimination in the procedures regularly employed by this body; a body that constantly violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU’s founding principles which proclaim respect for fundamental rights and the rights of the child.

1. Does the Commission agree that, since discrimination on the grounds of nationality is inherent in some of the practices employed by Jugendamt officials, this situation has European implications?

2. While recognising that family law comes within the Member States’ sphere of competence, does the Commission not feel still that it should act to redress the more negative aspects of laws on the exercise of parental responsibility in Germany?

3. Does the Commission agree that this body’s rules and procedures contravene fundamental European legal standards, and in particular the European Convention on Human Rights and EU principles on fundamental rights?