WRITTEN QUESTION E-1274/98

by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission

(29 April 1998)

Subject: EU Member States obstruct recovery of child maintenance allowances

The Danish state is owed DKR 323 million (1993) in child maintenance allowances by fathers who have moved abroad abandoning their wives and children in Denmark.

Recovering this money is a very costly and cumbersome process. Germany is one of the countries obstructing effective collection of the sums in question. For example, each single document for the German child support agency must be translated by an authorized translator, so making the procedure very expensive and inconvenient.

Does the Commission not believe that a solution ought to be found to ensure that the opportunity for recovering public debts from persons moving between the Member States is not obstructed by cumbersome procedures in the Member States?

Answer given by Ms Gradin on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 1998)

Maintenance obligations come under the 1986 Brussels Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. This Convention lays down the rules applicable in this area (Article 5 (2)), provides for the recognition as of right of decisions by the courts and authorities of the Member States which have the power to take decisions on alimony and organises the procedure whereby decisions can be enforced in another Member State. This Convention, which has been ratified by all the Member States, applies to relations between Denmark and Germany. It does not, however, deal with all the procedural aspects in the Member State where the decision has to be enforced, and in particular allows Member States to demand a translation of documents.

The Council is in the process of reviewing this Convention. The Commission has presented a proposal for a revised Convention(1) simplifying and speeding up the mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of decisions by introducing a certificate accompanying the original decision and giving the authority of the Member State the necessary information for registration. The advisability of maintaining the right to demand translations of the judgment and supporting documents was discussed by the Council, but no decision has yet been taken.

It should be added that the Member States, acting in political cooperation, produced a Convention on the simplification of procedures concerning the recovery of maintenance payments (1990). The main feature of this Convention is the establishment in each Member State of a central authority responsible for tracing the debtor, having the judgment registered for enforcement and taking the necessary enforcement measures. The Convention has not, however, been ratified by all the Member States and has never entered into force.

A number of Member States, in particular Denmark and Germany, have ratified the Hague Convention of 1973 on the Law applicable to Maintenance and also the New York Convention of 1956 on the recovery abroad of maintenance. The latter, which establishes a system of central authorities, is in force, but unfortunately it provides that all file documents must be translated, thereby hampering the effective application of the Treaty in a number of cases.

(1) COM(97) 609.