If a person is a parent in one EU state, he must also be a parent in all the others, regardless of the type of family and regardless of how the child was born or how it was conceived. The European Commission is proposing a regulation, i.e. a law directly applicable in all Member States, aimed at harmonizing the rules of private international law relating to parenthood at the Community level. One of the key aspects is that parenthood established in one EU Member State should be recognized in all other Member States, without any special procedure. The proposal, which in order to become law still requires unanimous approval in the Council, concerns all children whose parents have been recognized in a member state, and who are in another EU country, regardless of how the child is born or from how it was conceived, from the type of family and regardless of the nationality of the child or of the parents. The proposal for a regulation, underlines the Commission, is focused on the best interests and on the rights of the child. It will provide legal clarity for all types of households who find themselves in a cross-border situation within the EU, either because they move from one Member State to another to travel or reside, or because they have family members or assets in another Member State . Union law as interpreted by the European Court of Justice, in particular in the matter of free movement, already provides that parenthood established in one Member State is recognized in all the other Member States for certain purposes: access to the territory, right to stay, non-discrimination with citizens. However, this is not the case for rights deriving from national law. The proposed regulation, if approved, will allow children in cross-border situations to benefit from parental rights under national law, in matters such as succession, maintenance, custody or the right of parents to act as representatives lawyers of the minor (for scholastic or health matters).
Currently, Member States have difficulties with the recognition of paternity, because they have different substantive law rules on the institution of parenthood, different rules on jurisdiction and conflict of laws for establishing paternity in cross-border situations, and different rules on recognition of paternity established in another Member State. Existing EU regulations on family law, succession and public documents do not include recognition of paternity within their scope. The Commission proposes the adoption of harmonized rules on international jurisdiction, i.e. the rules determining which jurisdiction of the Member States is competent to establish parenthood in cross-border situations; on applicable law, i.e. conflict of laws rules designating the national law that should apply to the establishment of paternity in cross-border situations, and the recognition of court decisions and authentic instruments with binding legal effects (such as notarial deed) and the acceptance of public documents with probative effects (such as birth certificates) on paternity issued in another Member State. The Commission is also proposing the creation of a voluntary European paternity certificate which children (or their legal representatives, usually their parents) can apply for in the Member State which established paternity, to prove their status in another Member State. The introduction at EU level of uniform rules on international jurisdiction and applicable law for establishing paternity in cross-border situations aims to avoid the situations that arise today, where the application of different national rules on jurisdiction and applicable law may lead to divergent solutions in different Member States. The introduction at EU level of uniform rules on the recognition of parenthood established in another Member State aims to facilitate continuity of parental status throughout the EU.