Brussels, 21/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 21 October, the European Commission sent a strong signal to the EU Council stressing the need to simplify rules on divorce within the European Union. This is a matter that directly affects the daily lives of citizens as 170,000 divorces between persons of different nationality occur in the Union each year. The European Commission also answered an oral question put by Parliament on launching enhanced cooperation in this field.
With the adoption of the report by Evelyne Gebhardt (PES, Germany) by 522 votes to 89 and 35 abstentions, a majority of MEPs confirmed that regulation in this area would be very helpful. Although it is likely that the draft regulation will not be maintained in its original form given Sweden's fierce opposition to it (EUROPE 9677), the European Parliament nonetheless wanted to make its point of view on the matter known.
Which law should be applied for a divorce in which the two people divorcing are not of the same nationality? Several EU member states do not give couples the choice of country for divorce proceedings. Others allow a choice but subject to criteria that often result in a “rush to Court” with parties rushing to gain access to the law that will be more advantageous to him/her, to the detriment of the other party. The draft Rome III regulation aims to define rules in order to determine the law that should be applied and/or the judge that should decide. At European level, it does not provide for uniform divorce rules given the great variations that exist in this field between member states (Malta, for example, does not recognise the right to divorce and some countries authorise marriage between same sex couples). The draft regulation allows international couples to choose, by common accord, the member state in which they wish to divorce. To do this, they must prove they have a definite link with that state, as a place of residence or nationality. During the vote, MEPs also wanted the law of the country where the marriage took place to be an option for people to choose from. They also said both parties should be informed of their rights in the event of divorce so that the choice of law applicable does not disadvantage the “weak” party. To achieve this, they suggested setting up an information system on the internet.
Also on Monday afternoon, in addition to this report, MEPs discussed an oral question put to the Commission on the subject of enhanced cooperation procedure on divorce and its impact on cooperation in family law. The draft regulation, which requires unanimity, came up against opposition from Sweden in June this year. Nine countries (Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Romania, Austria, Hungary, Greece, Slovenia and Luxembourg), however, agree to set enhanced cooperation in place between member states, which would allow them to move forward nonetheless. At this stage, European Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot was not particularly enthusiastic about launching the “first enhanced cooperation”. “It is necessary to address the need to pursue common action on family law as close as possible to the citizens, to face up to this need with the risk of over-fragmenting the European area of justice that could result in a whole series of strengthened cooperations”, he stressed. “What I can say is that the Commission clearly hopes to move forward but once more ensuring that we can take a majority of member states along with us”, Mr Barrot added, recalling that his services were to end the consultation work in progress with member states before taking a stance on the possible launching of such a mechanism. Right now, the only thing certain is that “withdrawal of the initial Commission proposal Rome III is not on the agenda”, he said. Nearly five months after Stockholm's categorical refusal, the Commission's general stance on this issue has not greatly changed. There is nothing surprising about this, especially when one takes into account the lack of enthusiasm shown by the French EU Presidency on this (EUROPE 9739). (B.C./transl.jl)