"Thousands of couples find themselves in difficult personal situations because national legal systems have so far failed to provide clear answers," reads a note by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.
"This is why we decided to move ahead today," she said before presenting her proposals in Brussels on Wednesday (24 March).
International couples often find themselves in a legislative jungle when filing for divorce because national laws can conflict with one another.
Former spouses usually turn to their national courts in search of the most advantageous legislation, often at the expense of their partner.
As a result, "the spouse who has more financial resources is likely to gain an unfair advantage over the 'weaker' spouse," the Commission argues.
'Forum shopping'
"If one spouse from a Polish couple moves to Finland, he could ask for a divorce there without the other spouse's consent," according to a note to be published today. According to Reding, this is a typical example of 'forum shopping' and should be countered by the new European rules.
Under Commissioner Reding's proposal, couples will be able to decide jointly where they want to file for divorce. Couples could also agree a preventive arrangement even if they do not plan to separate, a step which could be beneficial for their children.
For when a couple cannot agree which national legislation should apply, the Commission proposes introducing a hierarchy, with the couple's country of residence at the top of the list.
If agreed, the new rules would affect around 32 million people living in the European Union. Of the 122 million marriages that take place every year, 16 million (13%) can be considered cross-border.
In 2007, there were more than one million divorces in the EU, of which 140,000 (13%) involved international couples, according to figures provided by the European Commission.
To be considered 'international' a couple must be either of different nationalities, or of the same nationality but living together either in a different EU country (for example, an Austrian couple residing in Spain) or separately in different countries (one partner living in Italy and the other living in France).
Enhanced cooperation
Faced with resistance from some member states - including Sweden, Poland and the Czech Republic - the Commission has decided to go ahead with a group of vanguard countries.
Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain have agreed to proceed, making use for the first time of the 'enhanced cooperation' mechanism contained in the EU treaties (EurActiv 18/03/10).
The mechanism allows a group of at least nine member states to go ahead on a specific issue, leaving the others free to join in later if they wish.
"Ten governments have asked for the Commission to propose a solution. Using the enhanced cooperation procedure is a good sign that the EU has the flexibility to help its citizens, even with difficult legal issues," reads the note from Commissioner Reding.
In order to be applied, the mechanism needs to be supported by a qualified majority of member states in the EU Council of Ministers. The European Parliament also has to take a vote of approval.
