Whilst the country is in turmoil over the immediate implications of Brexit, the term “divorce” is being used to describe the UK’s exit from the EU. Talk amongst European leaders is of a “quickie divorce” whereas the stance of the Government is to put off filing the divorce papers until David Cameron’s departure scheduled for autumn.
In order to start the “divorce” the UK Prime Minister, whomever that may be, has to give notice to the other EU members by invoking Article 50 of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty.
Article 50 sets out the two year time frame at the end of which the EU treaties cease to apply to the exiting member state. The process can go on for more than two years with the agreement of all member states.
One European law which comes into play for family lawyers on a daily basis is Council regulation (EC) 2201/2003, known as Brussels II. This governs what happens if the law in one country on divorce, child custody or international child abduction conflicts with the law in another member state.
Reference to the Council Regulation appears on the divorce petition itself. In the context of divorce, Brussels II provides uniformity across the EU states. It sets out the requirements that the parties must have a link (habitual residence and/or domicile) with the country in which they start the divorce. When the divorcing parties have a link to more than one member state, the divorce which is started first in time takes precedence.
The divorce settlement between the UK and the EU will be extremely complex and lengthy. There is no court which can act as the ultimate adjudicator on any dispute. Negotiation is the only way forward and it appears very likely this will go on for many more than two years. EU law is written into a huge number of British laws and unpicking all of this is going to take time, money and will no doubt involve many, many lawyers.
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