Cabo Verde Joins the Hague Convention on Child Abduction

Council Decision 2026/0041 – Authorising EU Member States to accept Cabo Verde’s accession to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

• Purpose
  The EU wants all Member States (except Denmark) to accept Cabo Verde’s entry into the 1980 Hague Convention, which aims to return children who have been wrongfully removed or retained across borders. The Convention is already ratified by 103 countries, including all EU Member States.

• Background
  • Cabo Verde deposited its accession instrument on 4 October 2022; the Convention became effective there on 1 January 2023.
  • The EU has already adopted 22 Council Decisions (2015‑2022) authorising the accession of 30 other countries to the Convention.
  • The Court of Justice of the EU (Opinion 1/13, 14 October 2014) confirmed that the EU has exclusive external competence to accept a third country’s accession.

• Legal basis
  • Article 81(3) TFEU (family law with cross‑border effects).
  • Article 218(6) (b) and (8) TFEU (Council decision after Parliament consultation, unanimous vote).
  • The decision is not subject to subsidiarity because it concerns exclusive external competence.

• Key provisions

1. Member States are authorised to accept Cabo Verde’s accession.
2. Each Member State must deposit a declaration of acceptance within 12 months of the decision’s adoption.
3. The declaration must be sent to the Commission and the text communicated within 2 months.
4. The decision becomes effective the day after its publication in the Official Journal.
5. Denmark is excluded from the decision (Protocol No 22).
6. The decision has no budgetary impact.

• Implementation
  • The Council will adopt the decision unanimously after consulting the European Parliament.
  • The decision will be published in the Official Journal, after which it takes effect.
  • Member States will notify the Commission of their declarations and provide the text within the specified time frames.

• Impact
  The Convention will now apply between all EU Member States (except Denmark) and Cabo Verde, giving children a clearer legal route for return and protecting their rights to contact both parents. The decision reinforces the EU’s commitment to child protection and aligns with the Brussels IIb Regulation, which also deals with cross‑border child custody and abduction cases.