Europäisches Internationales Scheidungsrecht (Rom III)

European Private International Law of Divorce (Rome III) In order to accelerate the process of unifying European private international law, the European legislator has for the first time made use of the enhanced cooperation provided for under Art. 20 of the EU Treaty. Rome III unifies the private international law of divorce and separation in 14 Member States, with Lithuania joining in next year. The Rome regime now more completely parallels the Brussels regime. Unlike its sister regulations, Rome III, from the perspective of most participating Member States, brings about substantial changes in the law. In most Member States, the traditional approach was to submit divorce to the law of the spouses' common nationality. Instead, Rome III determines the spouses' common habitual residence to be the principal connecting factor. To make up for the loss of stability that has occurred through this shift of approach, the Rome III Regulation allows the spouses to choose the applicable law. As in most participating Member States such freedom was previously unknown, states should take measures to inform their citizens of the new situation so as to allow them to take the initiative and fix a choice of law, which would ideally occur at an early stage of the marriage or prior to its conclusion. When a divorce action is pending, it is up to the law of the forum state whether or not a choice can still be validly made at this stage. Finally, Rome III covers not only cases of multinational marriages, but also marriages of couples having the same nationality who move from one state to another. The law applicable under Rome III governs exclusively the question of legal status. The consequences of a divorce or separation are not covered by Rome III: Questions regarding the private international law of child custody, marital regime, maintenance etc. are governed by separate European legislation or, if there is none, by the national laws of the Member States. Problems of interpretation include whether homosexual marriages come under the scope of application of Rome III and how to determine the law applicable to preliminary questions.