https://legal.excellentwiki.com/eu/family-law/ Recent content in Family Law on ExcellentWiki - Legal Encyclopedia Hugo en-US Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://legal.excellentwiki.com/eu/family-law/eu-family-law/ Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://legal.excellentwiki.com/eu/family-law/eu-family-law/ <h2 id="the-limited-competence-of-the-european-union-in-family-law">The Limited Competence of the European Union in Family Law</h2> <p>The European Union possesses no general competence to legislate in substantive family law. The regulation of marriage, divorce, parental responsibility, and the property relations of spouses remains within the exclusive competence of the member states. The Union&rsquo;s role is limited to measures concerning judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications, authorised by Article 81 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 81(1) provides that the Union shall develop judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications, based on the principle of mutual recognition of judgments and of decisions in extrajudicial cases. Article 81(3) specifically provides that measures concerning family law with cross-border implications shall be adopted by the Council acting unanimously after consultation with the European Parliament.</p>