The European Commission has proposed EU-wide rules to bring legal clarity to the property rights for married international couples and for registered partnerships with an international dimension. The two proposed Regulations would help identify which law applies to a couple's property rights and the responsible court, and will also provide for rules for recognising and enforcing court judgments on a couple's property in all EU Member States through a single procedure.

The European Commission has proposed two separate Regulations aimed to regulate property rights for international couples, which include one Regulation to implement the rules for married couples ("matrimonial property") and the other for registered partnerships ("patrimonial property"). These two regulations aim to cover all the situations created by different legal systems in Member states which regulate married couples as well as registered couples, would they be of same sex or opposite sex couples. In any case, the two Regulations put forward by the European Commission are completely respectful regarding gender or sexual orientation and lay down a non discriminatory legal framework.

The two proposals are the first deliverable of the Commission's October 2010 Citizenship Report, which outlined 25 major practical obstacles Europeans still face in their daily lives. They are also the logical next step following the swift agreement last year on EU legislation to determine which country's rules apply in cross-border divorce cases.

It also has to be highlighted that these two proposals do not harmonise or change any of the substantive national law on marriage or registered partnerships. Instead, the proposals aim to make it easier for couples to settle property-related issues in case they move to another EU Member State or when they are from different countries and own assets abroad.

Key elements of Commission's proposals on property rights concerning international couples

• Enable married international couples to choose the law that applies to their joint property in case of death or divorce
• Enhance legal certainty for registered partnerships with an international dimension by submitting the assets of registered partnerships, as a rule, to the law of the country where the partnership was registered
• Bring legal certainty for international couples (married or in registered partnerships) through a coherent set of rules to identify which country's court is responsible and which law will apply, based on a hierarchy of objective connecting factors
• Increase predictability for international couples by smoothing out the process for recognising judgements, decisions and deeds throughout the EU. Couples will save time and money, as the result of citizens' ability to group several legal proceedings into one court action. For example, combining divorce or separation proceedings with proceedings on property issues in front of one single court