Brussels, 15/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - In Strasbourg on Tuesday 15 April, Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding and MEP Roberta Angelilli (EPP, Italy) launched an information campaign for separated parents facing issues of parental child abduction.
This campaign aims to allow the individuals affected to get to know their rights and obligations. In particular, the Brussels 2 regulation, which has been applicable throughout the EU except Denmark since March 2005, lays down uniform rules to resolve conflicts of competence between the member states and facilitates the free circulation of judgments within the EU. In the event of cross-border parental abduction, a procedure for the child to be returned to his or her usual place of residence is also provided for.
Reding announced that 140,000 international divorces are granted every year in the EU. “The growing mobility of citizens within the European Union has led to an increasing number of families whose members are of different nationalities, live in different EU countries or live in an EU country of which some of them may not be nationals”, the European Commission explains in a press release. Angelilli said that half of all complaints submitted to her as EP Child Abduction Mediator related to irregularities in the application of the law. On Tuesday, consultation was launched on the subject and will run until 18 July.
In a report published on the same day, the Commission stated that the Brussels 2 regulation has done much to improve the situation of international couples facing trans-national matrimonial or child custody disputes. However, “important shortcomings” continue to exist, particularly as regards the rules to determine the competent EU jurisdiction. “The absence of a uniform and exhaustive rule (…) leads to legal uncertainty and to Union citizens having unequal access to justice”, the Commission states. Other areas deemed problematic or in which there is room for improvement include: - the free circulation of judgments; - the enforcement in one member state of judgments returned in another member state, due to divergences between member states' procedural standards (for the hearing of the child, for example); - cooperation between the central authorities of member states, particularly as regards collecting and exchanging information on the situation of a child in abduction cases. (SP)