Jules Lepoutre ground of residence abroad (L02) in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden on the one hand, and loss of nationality on the ground of acquisition of foreign nationality (L05) in Austria and the Netherlands are the other modes of loss which can be extended to the children. In Greece, Italy and Lithuania, the legislation or the general principles of administrative law provide that any loss of the parents’ nationality can be extended to the children. The second mode, the extension to the spouse or the registered partner (L12), is highly discriminatory. As the spouse or partner is an autonomous subject of law, no reason can justify the extension of the loss from one spouse or partner to the other. No Member State has maintained such a provision in its law. It remains unclear, however, whether Bulgaria is an exception to this principle. The Bulgarian legislation states, indeed, that “[r]evocation of the naturalisation of one of the spouses shall not revoke the naturalization of the other spouse and of the children, unless they have obtained Bulgarian citizenship on the grounds of the same false or withheld data or facts” (emphasis added). The wording of this provision seems to indicate that the same fraud committed by both spouses will result in the same loss, rather than that the fraud of one spouse will be extended to the other spouse. If this interpretation is correct, this piece of legislation must be classified into the mode L09, and does not constitute the only instance of the mode L12 in the EU. (3) Legislation Regarding the Change in the Filiation (L13a and L13b) The first mode of loss, following annulment of maternity/paternity (L13a), is likely to be provided by general principles of civil law regarding filiation, such as ‘fraus omnia corrumpit’ in case, for instance, of fraudulent acknowledgement of paternity. When the mode of loss is specified in nationality law, it is probably to bring some protection to the children and to establish conditions where nationality is not lost. The fact that six Member States have that kind of mode of loss in their legislation is, therefore, not indicative for the degree of diffusion of this mode of loss (which is probably occurring in all Member States), but for the degree of protection of the nationality. In this way, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands indicate that the change in the filiation cannot lead to statelessness; Belgium that the loss can only occur during minority; Germany that the loss can only occur before five years of age; Finnish legislation also provides for time-limitation (five years) and specifies that the assessment of the merits of the deprivation “shall [take into account] the child’s age and ties with Finland.” The second mode of loss consists of the loss of nationality following adoption by a foreign citizen (L13b). This mode of loss is quite connected with the deprivation on grounds of possessing another nationality; dual nationality is here at stake. Only six Member States are using this mode of loss.96 In these Member States, the loss only occurs when the adoptees acquire the nationality of their adoptive parent. (4) Legislation Regarding Children No Longer at Risk of Statelessness (L14) Article 1 and 2 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and article 6(1) and (2) of the 1997 European Convention on Nationality both require states to give their nationality to, on the one hand, children born in the territory who would otherwise be stateless and to, on the other hand, foundlings found in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. These two mechanisms protect the right to acquire a nationality of the children, enshrined in article 7 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child. They are, however, contingent on “the absence of proof to the contrary.” It means that if the children who have acquired the nationality of the country where they are born (ius soli) – or presumptively born for foundlings – are later able to acquire another citizenship on the basis of filiation (ius sanguinis), the initial protection against statelessness is no longer necessary. In other words, the establishment of the nationality of a foreign country allows the state to revoke the nationality initially acquired through this special mode of ius soli. Twenty-two Member States are implementing this mode 96 24 Belgium, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Romania. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers