The European Union Divorce Law Pact or Rome III Regulation, formally Council Regulation (EU) No. 1259/2010 of 20 December 2010 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation is a regulation concerning the

applicable law Conflict of laws (also called private international law) is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction."Conflict of Laws", ''Black's Law Dictio ...

regarding

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

valid in 17 countries. The regulation dictates which law should be used in cross-border divorces, while which courts should be used is determined by the Brussels II Regulation, which is valid for all European Union countries, except Denmark. The agreement, approved by

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

on 20 December 2010, took effect in the 14 original contracting parties on 21 June 2012 and makes use of the

enhanced co-operation In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but ...

mechanism which allows a minimum of nine

EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

to establish advanced

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without all members being involved.Vucheva, Elitsa (2008-07-24
Divorce rules could divide EU states
EU Observer

History

The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

has been moving towards a common applicable law provisions for divorce law. The

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

promulgated the Brussels II regulation in March 2001 to settle which court of an EU member state was competent to hear cases related to divorce between the members of the European Union. This regulation, amended in 2005, determines which courts will have jurisdiction over what matters.Aude Fiorini. “Rome III—Choice of Law in Divorce: Is the Europeanization of Family Law Going Too Far?” International Journal of Law Policy and the Family 22, (2008), 175-205. But this regulation, which binds all member states save Denmark, does not address which law EU courts should use, and due to the large diversity in divorce laws in the EU, the results may vary strongly depending on which law is used. As one legal scholar noted: “The substantive law pertaining to legal separation continues to differ widely between the Member States: from Maltese law where there is a prohibition of divorce to Finnish of Swedish law where no actual grounds of divorce are required.” In addition, the law and legal culture in these countries varies on issues of divorce and marital property. Observers note that the generosity of settlements and alimony differ from state to state.Laurie Goering. “International Divorce a Murky Pit.” The Chicago Tribune. 14 November 2008

With Brussels II holding that the first valid court to process a filing for divorce is the court that will have jurisdiction, and without a regulation on which law is used, it can matter a great deal where in the EU a ruling is made.

Enhanced co-operation

With the rise in cross border

in the EU, common rules were put forward to settle the issue of where and under which law trans-national couples can divorce in the EU. However

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

blocked the new rules, fearing their impact on the applicability of its liberal divorce law (divorce law differs strongly, with Nordic liberalism being in contrast to more conservative countries with more complicated procedures such as

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

which has only recently permitted it). In order to allow those willing states to proceed without Sweden, in July 2008 nine countries put forward a proposal to use

enhanced cooperation In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

were considering joining them. At a meeting of the justice ministers on 25 July 2008, the nine states decided to formally seek the measure of enhanced cooperation; eight states (the nine states above minus France) formally requested it from the European Commission on 28 July 2008.Two-speed Europe may emerge over divorce rules
EUobserver On 24 March 2010, when the law was formally proposed by the commission,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

was the tenth state to join the aforementioned eight and France.

and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

formally joined them on 28 May 2010, while

withdrew. MEPs backed the proposal in June 2010 with 14 states willing to adopt enter the proposed cooperation: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. These states were then authorised by the Council to proceed with enhanced cooperation on 12 July 2010.Enhanced cooperation on binational divorce
, Europolitics.info 12 July 2010 Following the adoption of Council Regulation (EU) No. 1259/2010 on 20 December 2010, the new Regulation, known as the Rome III Regulation, took effect in the 14 participating states on 21 June 2012. Other EU Member state are permitted to sign up to the pact at a later date.

became the first state to request to join the enhanced co-operation on divorce law in June 2012, and their participation was approved by the Commission on 21 November 2012. The provisions of the agreement applied to Lithuania as of 22 May 2014. Greece submitted a request to participate in the regulation in October 2013, and the Commission granted their approval on 27 January 2014 making it the 16th country to join the regulation, which applied to Greece as of 29 July 2015. Estonia's participation was approved by the Commission in August 2016, and the regulation applied to the country as of 11 February 2018.

Content

The

is determined based on a number of criteria. If a higher ranked criterion is not applicable the evaluation moves one lower. The main criteria for the choice of law are # The choice of the couple (choosing from the law of one of their nationalities, their current or previous place of residence, or the law of the court being used) # The place of their residence # Their last place of residence (maximum 1 year ago, 1 of the spouses should still live there) # Their nationality # The law of the court being used (

lex fori In conflict of laws, the term (Law Latin for "the law of the place") is a shorthand version of the choice of law rules that determine the (the laws chosen to decide a case).''Black's Law Dictionary'' abridged Sixth Edition (1991), p. 630. Gener ...

) In case a separation is not possible within the determined law according to the scheme (for example in case of divorce of a same sex couple), the law of the court seized applies. The regulation is also applicable to

legal separation Legal separation (sometimes judicial separation, separate maintenance, divorce ', or divorce from bed-and-board) is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is gra ...

and conversion of

to divorce.

References

External links

Full text of the Regulation
{{European Union topics

Divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

European Union regulations Family law Judicial cooperation in civil matters in the European Union 2010 in the European Union 2010 in law