The Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) and the European Commission held a joint conference on 23 October in Brussels on the two new European regulations relating to matrimonial property regimes and the property consequences of registered partnerships. The conference provided an opportunity for more than 200 practitioners to learn about and exchange views on their content.

Both regulations will apply from 29 January 2019. They will help international couples, whether married or in a registered partnership, to know which courts will have jurisdiction in matters relating to their property, which national law will be applicable to these matters and to ensure that court decisions and authentic instruments issued by notaries are recognised and enforced in another Member State with simplified rules.

Both regulations will apply from 29 January 2019. They will help international couples, whether married or in a registered partnership, to know which courts will have jurisdiction in matters relating to their property, which national law will be applicable to these matters and to ensure that court decisions and authentic instruments issued by notaries are recognised and enforced in another Member State with simplified rules.

Marius Kohler, President of the CNUE, opened the proceedings by stressing the importance of the work carried out on these two regulations, which will provide legal certainty for property relations and respect the principle of party autonomy. Like the regulation on international successions, these two regulations are an example of what the European Union can do for citizens in a positive way. From now on, practitioners must familiarise themselves with these new instruments. The CNUE has already embarked on this path with a training programme that will cover the period 2018-2020.

Salla Saastamoinen, Director of Civil and Commercial Justice at the European Commission, stressed the need to develop concrete solutions for the 16 million international couples living in the European Union. While 18 Member States have decided to join the enhanced cooperation procedure, she recalled that it remains open and encouraged other Member States to take part in it in order to enable a larger number of citizens to benefit from these clearer and simplified common rules.