Brussels, 16/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 March, the European Commission presented two proposed regulations aiming to facilitate legal proceedings in cross-border matrimonial and patrimonial property cases. The first regulation concerns European or international married couples (matrimonial regime) with a property in a country of the EU other than their country of origin (the proposals do not apply to properties situated outside the EU); the second concerns couples registered or recognised in the EU (patrimonial regime), a system which exists in just 14 member states, such as the French PACS regime.
If they are adopted, the two proposed regulations will make it possible to determine which legislation applies to the patrimonial rights of these couples and the competent jurisdiction, the Commission explains, and will lay down the rules for the recognition and execution of justice decisions on the property of the couples concerned throughout all member states of the Union, via a single procedure. The Commission is moving forward with the slogan “one case, one court” to speed up decisions. There are around 16 million international couples in the EU and nearly 650,000 of them experience problems with their overseas property every year.
The proposals will also allowed married international couples to choose the law applicable to their common property in the event of death or divorce; for recognised and registered partnerships, the law of the country where this union was registered will apply. In such cases, the regulation will enhance the legal security of these partnerships. The two regulations also provide a hierarchy of “objective connecting factors” - for all couples - to determine the competent jurisdiction and applicable law, such as the usual residence of the couple or nationality. They will also simplify the procedure for the recognition of court rulings, decisions and acts throughout the EU.
The Commission believes that these proposals will make a direct contribution to making life easier for the couples in question, by removing administrative obstacles and additional costs. According to the Commission, couples will be able to save an average of €2,000 to €3,000 per case, for example, by allowing them to combine several legal actions into a single court proceedings. The regulations come in the framework of 25 proposals put forward in October last year to remove obstacles to European citizenship and also constitute an extension of what the EU has set in place to facilitate divorce procedures between binational couples, using the “enhanced cooperation” mechanism between the interested countries.
The regulations will now be put before the justice ministers on 12 April. Unanimity is required. However, the Commission's proposals already have the support of the Notaries of Europe. The organisation says that it “agrees with” the two regulations and supports “ambitious” proposals. (S.P./transl.fl)