COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2019/1111: NEW PROGRESS IN INTERNATIONAL CHILD ABDUCTIONS

Abstract

Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, recently entered into force, brought significant progress for EU Member States in the specific area of international child abductions. In the context of freedom of movement within the European Union guaranteed by art. 21 TFEU, there is an ever-increasing number of transnational families, and an equally increasing risk of international child abductions when these families break up. Strongly supporting the general principle according to which an abducted child shall promptly be returned to the state of habitual residence, Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 narrows the application of the most frequently encountered exception to this principle, namely the “grave risk” exception. The purpose of the article is to analyse the child protection measures ensuring the application of the principle of prompt return, even when a serious risk is associated with the return of the child to the state of habitual residence. Hence, the objectives of the present study are to identify the progress from private international law to EU law, and also the way in which the relevant EU regulations - Council Regulation (EC) 2201/2003 and Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 - have constantly evolved in relation to protection measures, intended to remove from application the serious risk defense. Moreover, as these protective measures are not indicated even by the actual Council Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, the article will further examine the most significant procedural and substantive aspects, as they arise from legislation in force and the case-law of the courts in Member States.

Keywords

• eu regulations
• international abduction
• prompt return
• grave risk
• measures of protection