Sweden blocks EU plans to cut ‘divorce shopping’

STOCKHOLM:  Sweden blocked Saturday European Union plans to stop divorcing couples from fighting over which EU court to legally settle their separation in.
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said it was “mainly Sweden opposing” the move, out of concern the laws of other nations will not provide the same protection to the vulnerable partners in a divorce.

Divorces between couples from different EU countries make up about 20 percent of all divorces in the bloc. At the moment, the first member of a couple to act can choose which court will handle the case.

“Now there is what we call unfortunately this growing phenomenon of foreign shopping. People can choose the applicable law and the judge,” Frattini told reporters in Slovenia after talks between EU justice ministers. “This is, frankly speaking, a source of legal uncertainty,” he said.

Sweden endeavours to expedite divorces as quickly as possible, while the process can take far longer in other nations, with some demanding a period of separation before any court divorce can begin.

Complications can also arise in marriages between homosexuals, recognised in 27 EU nations. Sweden’s Justice Minister Beatrice Ask argued that such new steps would undermine her country’s laws, which she said had been an important factor in establishing gender equality.