European Day of Civil Justice Seminar on European Cooperation in civil matters Implementation of the Stockholm Programme

Stockholm Programme  multi-annual strategic work programme  sets out priorities for the development of a European area of freedom, security and justice in the period 2010–2014.  adopted under the Swedish Presidency by the Council on 30 November 2009 and endorsed by the European Council on December 2009.

Stockholm Programme  It is a follow up, of the Tampere Programme ( ) and the Hague Programme ( ).  The interests and needs of citizens are the main priority for the coming years.  The challenge is to ensure respect for fundamental freedoms and integrity while guaranteeing security in Europe.

Policy priorities  Promoting citizen rights- a Europe of rights  Making life easier for citizens- a Europe of justice  Protecting citizens- a Europe that protects:  Promoting a more integrated society for the citizen- a Europe of solidarity Europe in a globalised world – the external dimension of freedom,security and justice

Making life easier for citizens- a Europe of justice  Consolidation of the achievement of a European area of justice  Priority to mechanisms that facilitate people’s access to the courts  Improving the training of and cooperation between public professionals  Mobilising resources to eliminate barriers to the recognition of legal decisions in other Member States.

Instruments  mutual trust,  full and effective implementation, evaluation of existing instruments  training  increased coherence between external and internal elements of the work in the area of freedom, security and justice  communication  dialogue with civil society  financing

Making life easier for citizens- a Europe of justice  principle of mutual recognition of judicial decisions: cornerstone of judicial cooperation in both civil and criminal matters.  Therefore, mutual trust needed to be strengthened by progressively developing a European judicial culture based on the diversity of legal systems and unity through European law  This is one of the main challenges for the future.

Strengthening mutual trust The main policy objective in the area of civil procedural law: – is that borders between Member States should not constitute an obstacle either to the settlement of civil matters or to initiating court proceedings, or to the enforcement of decisions in civil matters. – Efforts to improve the efficiency of their judicial systems by encouraging exchanges of best practice and the development of innovative projects relating to the modernisation of justice are important.

Making life easier for citizens- a Europe of justice Strengthening mutual trust by  establishing minimum rights as necessary for the development of the principle of mutual recognition  Making access to justice in the European judicial area easier, particularly in cross-border proceedings,  overcome the language barriers that obstruct their access to justice  Making use of e- justice in all areas of civil, criminal and administrative law

Furthering the implementation of mutual recognition by  process of abolishing all intermediate measures (the exequatur) accompanied with necessary safeguards  Extension of Mutual recognition to fields that are not yet covered but are essential to everyday life,  Ex succession and wills, matrimonial property rights and the property consequences of the separation of couples, while taking into consideration Member States’ legal systems, including public policy, and national traditions in this area.

Furthering the implementation of mutual recognition by  Continuation of the process of harmonising conflict- of-law rules at Union level in areas where it is necessary, (ex. separation and divorces, company lawn insurance contracts)  Consolidation of the instruments adopted so far in the area of judicial cooperation in civil matters by streamlining the existing instruments.  The aim to ensure the coherence and user- friendliness of the instruments, thus ensuring a more efficient and uniform application thereof

Training To foster a genuine European judicial and law enforcement culture and to strengthen mutual trust, – essential to step up training on Union-related issues – systematically accessible for all professions involved in the implementation of the area of freedom, security and justice. – This includes judges, prosecutors, judicial staff, police and customs officers and border guards. – Aim to make it part of national curricula. – Member States have the primary responsibility in this respect, but the Union must give their efforts support and financial backing and also be able to have its own mechanisms to supplement national effort.

Training The ambition – a substantive number of professionals by 2015 will have participated in a European Training Scheme or in an exchange programme with another Member State, which might be part of training schemes that are already in place. For this purpose existing training institutions should in particular be used. Safeguarding judicial independence while at the same time placing the emphasis on the European Dimension for professionals that use European Instruments frequently Solutions on European Level could be sought with a view to strengthening European Training schemes.

Implementation  the full and effective implementation, enforcement and evaluation of existing instruments.  The development of action at Union level should involve Member States’ expertise and consider a range of measures, including non-legislative solutions such as agreed handbooks, sharing of best practice (inter alia, making best use of the European Judicial Networks) and regional projects that address those needs, in particular where they can produce a fast response.

Increased coherence Enhancing the internal coordination in order to achieve greater coherence between external and internal elements of the work in the area of freedom, security and justice. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the legal instruments adopted at Union level.  This is also necessary to determine any obstacles to the proper functioning of the European judicial area.  It should focus on specific problems and therefore facilitate full application of the mutual recognition principle.

Communication  Ways of Communicating the achievements and concrete results of the policy in the area of freedom, security and justice to citizens, businesses and professionals.  Devising a strategy on how best to explain to citizens how they can benefit from the new tools and legal frameworks, for instance through the use of e-Justice and the e-Justice Portal. Dialogue with civil society  The Union institutions, within the framework of their competences, should hold an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society  Specific mechanisms, such as the European Justice Forum, in areas where such mechanisms are appropriate.

The benefits for citizens of a European judicial area : Access to justice: European Council considers that e-Justice presents an excellent opportunity to provide easier access to justice. And asks for the implementation of projects included in the action plan e- justice The European Council invites the Commission to: propose actions to facilitate access to justice, especially in terms of legislation relating to civil status documents, and to support economic activity, such as legislative proposals on the enforcement of judgements.

Increasing the Union’s international presence in the legal field The European Council considers that clearly defining Union external interests and priorities in the area of judicial cooperation in civil matters is very important with a view to interacting with third countries in a secure legal environment.

Action Plan implementing the Stockholm Programme In Stockholm Programme, – Commission was invited to present an action plan translating the programme text into concrete proposals, together with a timetable for the implementation of the proposed measures. – On 20 April 2010, the Commission presented its Communication “Delivering an area of freedom, security and justice for Europe's citizens - Action Plan Implementing the Stockholm Programme"

Action Plan The JAI Council of 3- 4 June 2010 took note of the Commissions communication and stressed that the action plan should more closely mirror the objectives set out in the Stockholm Programme itself.

Looking at the future Together with the Commission who has the initiative right, the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies have joined their efforts in order to assure the implementation of the Stockholm Programme.

Working groups under Belgian Presidency E- justice General questions Successions Rome III Contract law Seminars

E-justice  European e-Justice project  Launch of the e- justice portal during its informal meeting in July Help to reduce the costs, delays, distance and difference of language in the context of cross-border proceedings.  This is one of many steps in the process of the computerisation of justice

E-justice   Portal is intended to serve as "one-stop shop" for the whole e-Justice system,  3 basic functions : – provide access to information in the field of justice. – aims at the dematerialisation of proceedings – and improves the communication between judicial authorities.

E-justice Enlargement of the portal's contents and gradually developping new functions in the coming years – allowing a citizen to make a cross-border small claim or payment order online. – Insolvency registers, business registers and landregisters will be accesible via portal – Courts would be able to deal with cross-border requests online and communicate with the claimants and defendants in a particular case as well as with courts in other Member States – by 2013 a tool allowing citizens to narrow their searches for lawyers.

Committee of Civil Law – general questions  Following the civil law aspects of the Union's external relations ensuring coherence in Union legislation in the area of civil law, if necessary by way of opinions by the Working Party.  Example: discussions concerning the Hague Convention on Maintenance 2007

Successions  The proposal aims to improve judicial cooperation in the field of succession, which at the moment has not been harmonised.  After receiving Commission's proposal – work started under the Swedish Presidency, – continued under Spanish Presidency, now under Belgian Presidency – and will be further continued under the Hungarian Presidency.

Successions  The BE Presidency considers this proposal as an important step towards a Europe for citizens.  In order to ensure an effective deployment of the regulation it is necessary to create a comprehensive framework which provides legal certainty.  At the end of our Presidency Belgium foresees to submit a document which compiles the progress made in the Council.

Rome III  Meeting in the format “Friends of the Presidency” group on July 12 and October 11  Regulation aims to establish closer cooperation in the area of the law applicable to divorce and legal separation between Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Malta and Slovenia

Rome III  It is now up to Parliament to give its opinion under the consultation procedure, based on the report to be prepared jointly LIBE, FEMM and JURI,  The intention is adoption of this Regulation by the Council of Ministers in December this year. "

Contract Law  Meeting in the format “Friends of the Presidency” group on 29 November  Topic: Green Paper from the Commission on European contract law (COM(2010)348 final).  Aim: Provide a platform for the Member States to ask questions to the Commission in order to get clarifications on the Green Paper.

Seminars related to civil justice under the Belgian Presidency  Seminar “International family mediation in international child abduction” Brussels  Seminar “After the Crisis: Banking and financial law, Business rescue”, Brussels  Seminar “Quality in Justice” a forum to discuss initiatives that can be taken to improve the quality of justice, Brussels

Thank you for your attention Ümit Oral