Brussels, 22/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 June, the Commission announced that under new EU-wide rules, which apply as of this week, children across the EU would benefit from speedier maintenance payments when families split up. This new regulation: sets up EU wide, a system for facilitating maintenance payment recovery, so that absent parents will no longer be able to ignore their obligations. It would allow for more effective recovery of maintenance payments in transborder cases. Most of the time, any decision on maintenance payment obligations made in one member state will now be executed in another member state without having to go through a special procedure. It also sets out cooperation rules between the central authorities, with regard to the assistance they provide to those requesting maintenance payments.
The Commission points out that Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations was adopted on 18 December 2008 and applies between EU member states as of 18 June 2011.
Some 16 million international couples live in the EU and one million divorces are pronounced each year. Increasing numbers of families are thus faced with the problem of recovering maintenance payments when one of the parents lives abroad and refuses to make any financial contribution to the children. As declared by Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding (Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship), “The interests of children must always come first. These rules will make sure they will still receive financial support if a parent lives away from them in another EU country”. (G.B.trans/fl)