Description

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What international family law is 'necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market'? An in-depth analysis of international family law within the European Union from a multidisciplinary approach was needed to tackle this central theme. Articles 61c and 65 of the EC Treaty expressly place civil judicial cooperation in the perspective of the proper functioning of the internal market and thus appear to grant it a distinct 'economic' flavour. Still, the link between civil cooperation and, a fortiori, family law on the one hand and economic integration on the other hand, is not self-evident. A key question today is to what extent and according to what framework the European legislator can and should act in the field of international family law. This book provides clear answers to that crucial question. With contributions of M. Antokolskaia (Amsterdam), S. Bariatti, C. Ricci and L. Tomasi (Milan), M. Bogdan (Lund), A. Borras (Barcelona), J.-Y. Carlier and S. Sarola (Louvain-la-Neuve), M. Fallon (Louvain-la-Neuve), C. Gonzalez Beilfuss (Barcelona), D. Martiny (Frankfurt a. Oder), J. Meeusen (Antwerp), M. Pertegas (Antwerp), S. Poillot Peruzzetto (Toulouse), H. Stalford (Liverpool), G. Straetmans (Antwerp) and F. Swennen (Antwerp).

About the Author

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Gert Straetmans is professor of European economic and commercial law at the University of Antwerp. He has been visiting professor at several foreign universities and is visiting professor at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität Bonn. He has published extensively on market practices law, consumer law and European free movement law.

Marta Pertegás holds a Doctor of Laws degree. She joined the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law in February 2008 as Secretary and focuses on the Hague International Litigation Conventions and other projects related to commercial international law. She became First Secretary in February 2011. Ms Pertegás studied law at the University of Barcelona, Spain; she completed a Master of Laws and PhD thesis on "Cross-border enforcement of patent rights" at the KU Leuven, Belgium. From 2002 to 2008, Ms Pertegás taught private international law, international and comparative procedural law and World Trade Organization law as a full-time tenured professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She is currently teaching "Law of Global Transactions and Litigation" in Antwerp and is frequently invited to give presentations on the work of the Hague Conference in conferences and seminars. Ms Pertegás has written a large number of publications on private, family and commercial international law. From 1999 to 2008, Ms Pertegás was a Member of the Bars of Barcelona and Brussels (European Union's roster) and practised part-time of counsel (one day per week). She served as a Consultant in European International Private Law during the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2001. Since 2003, she has been a Member of the Groupe belge de Droit International Privé (which assisted with the development and assessment of the Belgian Code on Private International Law). In addition, Ms Pertegás worked as an ad hoc Consultant for the DG Justice and Home Affairs of the European Commission in relation to the Green Paper on Succession.