Brussels, 08/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 6 October, the French Presidency of the EU launched an appeal in favour of the increased recognition of authentic acts within the borders of the Union, to make the daily lives of the European citizens easier. "There is still progress to be made to ensure that the effects of authentic acts are mutually recognised", pleaded the French Justice Minister, Rachida Dati, at a colloquium held on this subject in Paris. "We must ensure that an authentic act issued in any member state is recognised in the same way in all other member states", she added, stressing that the creation of a genuine "European authentic act" would come later. The minister pointed out that the authentic act existed in 21 countries of Europe and was therefore part and parcel of the everyday life of citizens and businesses: marriage certificates, deeds of gifts, wills, proxies, bills of sale, contracts between companies, etc. "Mutual recognition should relate to all types of acts. Up to now, much of our reasoning has been on a sector-by-sector basis (...). It is now time for a more ambitious approach", said Ms Dati. During the debates of this colloquium, Mr Juan Bolás Alfonso, President of the Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE), presented the state of progress with work carried out by the notaries of Europe on this subject and formulated proposals on a possible future draft European authentic act. In order to keep things as simple and efficient as possible, the CNUE recommends a more horizontal approach, targeting the mutual recognition of authentic acts in Europe. During this colloquium, the MEP Manuel Medina Ortega (EPP-ED, Spain), rapporteur on this subject for the European Parliament, spoke along the same lines during the presentation of his draft report on the European authentic act. Amongst the recommendations he put to the European Commission was the presentation of a legislative proposal, aiming to establish mutual recognition and the execution of authentic acts for civil and commercial purposes, to the exclusion of those regarding immovable property. For his part, the Commissioner for Justice, Jacques Barrot, once again took position in favour of setting in place proposals on the Community legal arsenal, as he did in Warsaw at the Congress of European Union Civil Law Notaries, where he announced the launch of a Green Paper on this subject on 11 September (EUROPE 9738). Francisco Fonseca Morillo, who is responsible for justice issues in DG Justice, Liberty and Security (JLS), spoke in favour of holding a debate on the details for the recognition of authentic acts throughout the EU. Speaking to EUROPE, he went on to state that the Commission was currently working on a feasibility study on the issue, with plans to publish the said Green Paper towards the end of 2009. "We intend to continue with the sectorial dimension", he said, referring to the revision, to be held before the end of 2009, of the regulation on the legal competence, recognition and execution of decisions on civil and commercial matters (known as the "Brussels I regulation"), and the recognition of extrajudicial acts. He also stated that the Commission was "open" to the idea of establishing a "horizontal framework directive" laying down the general conditions for the circulation of authentic acts. What form would such an act have to take, given the differences which exist between the "common-law" systems, notably in English law and in the Nordic countries, where the notion of an authentic act does not exist, and the countries using Latin systems of law, in which the authentic act is a symbol of legal security? "This issue must be tackled and we must find a system of compatibility between the two systems", he concluded. (B.C./trans.fl)