9 EU states want mutual recognition on divorce

Breaking news, nine EU countries are preparing to co-operate over a common law on divorce, these are France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Romania. They will get together at a justice meeting on Friday July 25, to strike the deal called “enhanced cooperation procedure” There is also support from other countries, these are Germany, Belgium, Portugal and Lithuania.

The objective of the new procedure is the mutual recognition of divorce across borders and the countries

So, Sweden vetoed the proposal that would have allowed couples of different EU nationalities to choose which countries law to use when they want a divorce. Unanimous support needs to be enacted for EU family law. Firstly the European Commission has to accept the divorce initiative then it will have to be approved by a qualified majority of the bloc’s 27 member states.

Provided that the European Commission accepts the divorce initiative, it then has to be approved by a qualified majority of the bloc’s 27 member states.

It seems Enhanced cooperation is a very sensitive issue as it has never been implemented, and it could allow several members states to move faster than others, and that’s not what everyone wants the EU image to be.

Each year in the European Union, there is a staggering 170,000 international marriages that end in the divorce, and there are no common rules telling you which country’s law apply. Generally spouses run to their country of origin hoping that if they attend a court there, that the law will be more lenient with them.

Divorce law changes between the 27-nation EU, Malta doesn’t allow divorce, and you also have the Nordic nations to Catholic Poland and Ireland.

Source: EU Observer

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