Brussels, 29/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - Paris notary Jean Tarrade is the president of the Council of Notaries in the European Union (CNUE), which represents notaries in 22 EU member states. The European regulation on international inheritance came into force on 16 August and the CNUE president explains how this is an important stage for his profession. He also discusses matters of greatest concern to the CNUE (interview by Solenn Paulic).
Agence Europe: Why is the regulation on international inheritance important for your organisation? What changes does it make?
Jean Tarrade: The new regulation's entry into force is extremely important for all practitioners of law dealing with settling inheritance in the member states, bar the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, which are not involved. From now on, with this new regulation, inheritance in the EU is covered by the same law rather than a number of laws as was previously the case. It is also possible now to stipulate during one's lifetime which country's law one would like to be applied. One can also chose the law of one's nationality and, by default, if no special indication is given, the law of the most recent habitual residence shall apply. The regulation also has implications outside the EU because it is now possible to select the law of a non-EU country. The regulation will therefore lead notaries to settle inheritance in a law other than their own, for example for an Estonian client who turns to a French notary. For this reason, we set up a whole programme of special training courses two years ago with the support of the European Commission that will be further intensified.
Alongside non-EU successions, which other issues are important to the CNUE?
There is the regulation on the circulation of public documents. The approaches differ at the Council, which takes a more restrictive approach, and the European Parliament and Commission, which take a more open approach. The Council says one should start with civil status records and if that works, then to move on to the rest. There is also the matter of certified translations and certified copies of public documents. For us, it is extremely important to work on documents that guaranteed all the necessary legal security. Then there is the one-person limited company proposal, a very ambitious plan to allow a company to be set up with just one shareholder (SUP) anywhere in the EU very simply and without any formalities. This proposal has generated strong reticence among member states and notaries, who see dangers of identity theft and tax fraud and the like. The Council adopted a general position at the end of May that scraps some of the controversial initial measures, including those referring to the SUP's headquarters. We are now awaiting publication of a report by the European Parliament. Finally, there is the regulation on marriages and civil partnerships. As the regulation on inheritance is now being applied, it would make sense for these regulations to come rapidly into force, but there is very strong opposition from countries oppsing gay marriages or homosexual partners, who are blocking any progress. The Luxembourg Presidency hopes that once various elections have taken place, progress will be made on the legislation. We strongly demand this harmonisation, but unanimous voting is required in this family law domain.
What about tax questions?
The regulation on inheritance does not affect member states' taxation and one could clearly imagine people shopping around for the most favourable legal system. The European Commission has set up a group of experts on tax obstacles in terms of inheritance to avoid double taxation, but taxation remains a national issue. A regulation on inheritance without convergence in member states' taxation would be tricky.
The CNUE recently opened a website: “Acheter un bien immobilier en Europe” (http://www.jachetemonlogement.eu / http://www.buyingmyhome.eu ) that gives wide access to factsheets about how house-buying works in the CNUE member countries. The factsheets are available in English and French. Practical questions are addressed in a qusestion and answer format (such as How should I pay? When can I enter the property? and the like) covering the full sales process from signing of the initial agreement between the seller and the purchaser to the end of the formalities involved in a sale.