EESC opinion: Applicable law in matrimonial matters

Key points :

The Committee, consulted on the initiative first, basically approves the extension, through amendments, of the questions of jurisdiction and law applicable to Regulation No 2201/2003, thereby supplementing on these points a regulation which dealt with the recognition of legal decisions on matrimonial and childcare matters.

However, it wonders whether it is advisable to deal separately with the issue of distribution of jointly-held assets by widening the scope rationae personae of this distribution to unmarried couples.

The EESC feels that, as regards the recognition of judgments that may originate from non-EU countries in particular, it may well be worth specifying that judgments which seek to be recognised are obliged to comply with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and with the Charter adopted in 2000 by the Nice Council, as well as with the principle of strict legal equality between spouses.