Toledo, 22/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting on Friday 22 January, European justice ministers backed the Commission's plans to propose an initiative in the near future on enhanced cooperation to settle legal matters relating to crossborder divorce in Europe. “This is an exceptional instrument but one must stop considering it as an instrument of division”, the Spanish justice minister, Francisco Caamaño, said after an informal meeting with his European counterparts in Toledo.
Commissioner-designate for justice Viviane Reding recently pointed out that she would put forward a request for heightened cooperation within three months of her appointment as commissioner (EUROPE 10055). “Enhanced cooperation could allow at least 15 member states to have the same rules, instead of the 27 different sets of legislation”, the Spanish minister said. Germany's Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger was, she said, “open” to the project. Her Belgian opposite number, Stefaan De Clerck, pointed out that the ministers had not yet seen Ms Reding's proposal but that, in principle, his country wanted cooperation. His Hungarian colleague also eyed it favourably. All, however, agreed to say that it was necessary to wait for the proposal before taking a formal stance on the issue. “We must not be afraid. The idea is not to create a Europe within Europe but rather to begin cooperating with some while we wait for the others to join us”, explained French Secretary of State for Justice Jean-Marie Bockel. The outgoing commissioner for justice, Jacques Barrot, said for his part that he was more optimistic than usual on this subject, even saying he was in favour of a “vanguard with a common approach that could make family law move forward”. The commissioner, however, went on to point out that the broadest possible enhanced cooperation was needed to avoid any fragmentation of family law. Ten countries - Romania, Hungary, Austria, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Greece, Bulgaria and France - want to activate the procedure. During debates, only three member states - Sweden, United Kingdom and Finland - were “completely allergic” to the idea of taking part in enhanced cooperation, one diplomat said. (B.C./transl.jl)