Tomorrow the European Parliaments Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will hear about the state of play on the first use of the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure. 12 member states are proposing new rules in regards to Divorce and when it is of a trans-national nature.
To me this is a perfect use of the Enhanced Co-operation procedure as it can mean couples can choose the law that suits them most. For example a German married to Italian but living in Spain, have the choice to choose between German, Italian and Spanish law when it comes to their case. It also means that these rules will have no bearings on Malta, where divorce is illegal, and Ireland, where divorce is a long wait.
The 12 member states who want this are:
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Austria
- Hungary
- Slovenia
- Luxembourg
- Romania
- Bulgaria
- Belgium
- Germany
- Latvia
Greece was initially on board but withdrew.
Under the current rules 9 member states are the minimum required to use the enhanced co-operation procedure. No member state can veto the use of procedure (except in the area of Foreign Affairs).
It will be interesting to see this in action.
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[...] Yesterday I blogged about the attempt by 12 member states the use the Enhanced Co-Operation Procedure in the area of divorce. This morning the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee voted to accept a report by MEP Tadeusz Zwiefka (EPP/PL) to allow the procedure to be used by the 12 countries. [...]