WRITTEN QUESTION E-3219/00

by Elizabeth Lynne (ELDR) to the Commission

(17 October 2000)

Subject: Maintenance payments relating to children of divorced parents

Is there any EU legislation in place or pending which ensures that divorced parents who have custody of their children receive maintenance payments from their ex-husband/wife when the latter is from or residing in a different EU country?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(15 November 2000)

The Commission draws the Honourable Member's attention to the Convention of 27 September 1968 on the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters (the Brussels Convention)(1). This establishes the principle of the maintenance creditor's domicile as the ground for jurisdiction, and 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 maintenance, and lays down the procedure whereby decisions can be enforced in another Member State.

In other words, according to the Brussels Convention, the divorced parent who has custody of children can seise the court of the state of his or her domicile to obtain a judgment awarding maintenance payments. The decision taken by this court can, thanks to the system set up by the Convention, be enforced in the state of the ex-spouse's domicile.

The Brussels Convention, which has been ratified by all the Member States, is in the process of being transformed into a Community regulation, which is possible as a consequence of the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty. This transformation will also incorporate certain substantive changes including the simplifying and speeding up of the mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of decisions by the introduction of a certificate accompanying the original decision and giving the authority of the Member State addressed the necessary information for granting the declaration of enforceability.

The Member States, acting in the context of political cooperation, adopted in Rome on 6 November 1990 a Convention on the simplification of procedures concerning the recovery of maintenance payments. The main feature of this Convention is to complement with administrative arrangements the provisions of the Brussels Convention, establishing in each Member State a central authority

responsible for tracing the debtor, having the judgement declared enforceable and taking the necessary enforcement measures. The Convention has not, however, been ratified by all the Member States and has not entered into force.

The European Council meeting held in Tampere on 15/16 October 1999 advocated further reduction of the intermediate measures which are still required to enable the recognition and enforcement of a decision or judgement in the requested State. As a first step these intermediate procedures should be abolished (mldr) for certain judgements in the field of family litigation (e.g. on maintenance claims (mldr)). Such decisions would be automatically recognised throughout the Union without any intermediate proceedings or grounds for refusal of enforcement. This could be accompanied by the setting of minimum standards on specific aspects of civil procedural law. Following the Tampere European Council, the Council and the Commission are drawing up a programme of measures for implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in civil and commercial matters, which includes the abolition of intermediate measures (exequatur) for judgments on maintenance obligations.

(1) OJ L 299, 31.12.1972 (consolidated version).