Emma Nicholson
A MEP since 1999, Baroness Nicholson was Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (2004-2007)[1], where her involvement focused on Eastern Europe and the Islamic world. She is also a Member of the Subcommittee on Human Rights. Baroness Nicholson is a European Parliament Rapporteur for Jammu and Kashmir and has also served as Rapporteur for Romania and maintained a close link with this country up to its accession in 2007.[2]
In December 2002 she was voted 'MEP of the Year' in a poll conducted by the European Voice Newspaper. In 2007, she was rated as the joint most environmentally friendly MEP in the UK by a consortium of environmental groups led by Friends of the Earth.[3]
Contents
Background
Baroness Nicholson, who left the Tory party in 1995 to join the Liberal Democrats, is famously known to be the creator of Romania's "children crisis". She "insisted Romania’s entry into the EU be linked to its treatment of children. [She] claimed foreign adoptions had created a lucrative black market trade in baby and child trafficking."[4] As a result, an EU-fearing Romania banned international adoptions in 2001.
Adrian Severin, in her 2004 article[5], questioned the reason behind Romania being brought into a "crisis" just when it was trying to prove itself for the EU accession. She claims that the process initiated by Baroness Nicholson looks more like a set-up to change the balance of political forces in Romania, and to postpone its accession to EU.
On 12 June 2006, 33 NGOs published an advertisement on the Financial Times with the title "Romania's concealed Childcare Crisis", criticizing the effects of the ban on international adoption. They were later accused by Baroness Nicholson of having financial interests in international adoption. NGOs rejected the claim, stating that the payment came from 5 personal donors, none of whom have involvement in adoption.[6]
Baroness Emma Nicholson adopted an Iraqi child in 1987, with whom she currently has no contact.
Affiliations
- Executive chairman, AMAR International Charitable Foundation (http://www.amarfoundation.org/)
- Member, Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Member, Subcommittee on Human Rights
- Founder Member, Booker Prize Foundation and Booker Prize for Russian Fiction
- Member, advisory board of EU-Russia Centre
Resources
- Emma Nicholson, accessed 18 January 2009.
- EU-Russia Centre, accessed 18 January 2009.
- European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, "Romania: NGOs respond to Nicholson's statements on adoption," 15 June 2006, accessed 21 January 2009.
- Foundation for Dialogue among Civilisations, accessed 18 January 2009.
- Graham, Bob, "Romania’s orphans claim years of abuse," 24 September 2006, Times Online, accessed 21 January 2009.
- Severin, Adrian, "The Oostlandson effect," 17 February 2004, Novinite.
Notes
- ↑ Emma Nicholson, accessed 18 January 2009.
- ↑ EU-Russia Centre, Advisory Board, accessed 18 January 2009.
- ↑ Foundation for Dialogue among Civilisations, accessed 18 January 2009.
- ↑ Graham, Bob, "Romania’s orphans claim years of abuse," 24 September 2006, Times Online, accessed 21 January 2009.
- ↑ Severin, Adrian, "The Oostlandson effect," 17 February 2004, Novinite.
- ↑ European Network of Ombudspersons for Children, "Romania: NGOs respond to Nicholson's statements on adoption," 15 June 2006, accessed 21 January 2009.
