Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-394"
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"en.20071212.36.3-394"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for his very positive statement. I should also like to thank Ms Grabowska for her wonderful cooperation on this matter.
This is one of those proposals that could make Europe a reality for those we serve. It could add practical value at difficult times in their lives. I do not know how many times, as an elected MEP, I have been contacted by constituents who are having difficulties getting maintenance from somebody in another Member State. All too often, I have been unable to give a practical and positive answer.
With this regulation, I hope that in most circumstances we would be able to do much better. The proposal potentially allows the EU to go much further than states can through the Hague Conference process, which has already been mentioned. We should indeed be able to go further. After all, we have encouraged our citizens to move freely across old national borders within the EU, and should be able to provide an answer, in the form of a good, simple, functioning justice system, when they hit rough times in their marriages or partnerships breaking down. Above all, we should be able to offer help to children suffering the financial consequences of marriage breakdown. This proposal would give us a simplified one-step process, instead of the current nightmare of applying in one court and then having to go through more or less the same process of enforcement in a foreign court. That is too much for people at vulnerable and desperate moments in their lives.
The Legal Affairs Committee has been happy to endorse most of this proposal, whilst trying to make some technical improvements. In this respect I am very grateful to my colleague, Mr Casini. However, like the rapporteur, we cannot accept the choice of legal base. It should have been codecision, not consultation. I believe the Member States have been entirely unreasonable, both in terms of the content of the legislation, and as regards the implications for our citizens. I hope they will respond to the Commissioner’s appeal.
Speaking on behalf of my Group, we do not want to see the effectiveness of this one-step system undermined. We must, of course, respect the rights of the defence – the judgement debtor – but this should apply to the originating court. We should not allow the re-opening of the case in the enforcing court, or we will destroy the very benefits we are seeking to deliver. We therefore want to see deletion of Article 33(a), and have grave doubts about amendment 61, which still leaves the door open too wide.
Finally, I want to make some comments as a UK Member of this Parliament. The UK opt-out or failure to opt in to this instrument is bad news for many EU nationals from other Member States now living in the UK, and is also bad news for many Brits whose partners move to another Member State. Indeed, there are all sorts of permutations where the opt-out will create chaos and confusion. People will be second-class citizens in respect of the justice system available to them.
However, what I most regret is the failure of the British Government to appreciate the untenable position of British MEPs in these issues. Should we actually be working on, speaking on – and, more importantly, voting on –proposals on things that, as they currently stand, will have no application to those who elected us? Others are beginning to question the legitimacy of our position. These opt-outs are democratically untenable and destructive to the coherence of the EU civil justice system. Pick-and-mix, opt-in and opt-out merely hits those who are vulnerable and in most need of the law’s protection."@en1
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