Strasbourg, 17/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - MEPs have called on the Commission to bring forward a legislative proposal next year to deal with cross-border succession and wills. At the plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday, MEPs adopted an own initiative report from the chairman of the EP legal affairs committee Giuseppe Gargani (EPP-ED), calling for a simplified regulatory framework for successions and will (457 votes for, 51 against, with 22 abstentions).
They called on the Commission to launch a call for proposals for an information campaign on transnational successions and wills, aimed mainly at notaries, and suggested, too, the establishment of a network of civil law practitioners in this area. They indicated their preference for harmonisation of standards on legal competence, applicable law, recognition, execution of decisions and foreign public documents, apart from the positive law and procedural law of Member States. In particular, MEPs wanted to see the introduction of a “European certificate of inheritance”, to satisfy the principle of freedom of movement in the EU. They also supported the notion of “usual place of residence” of the deceased, both as a criterion for principal competence and an objective connecting criterion, being of the opinion that some freedom of choice had to be granted. MEPs also argued for regulation of the issue of the law applicable in the event of disputed successions between Member States and third countries. Finally, the EP recommended the creation of a European network for registering wills by linking existing national registers.
In response to the Commission's Green Paper (see EUROPE 8895), proposals on successions and wills are due to be brought forward in 2007. It is estimated that there are between 50,000 and 100,000 transnational successions every year. (bc)