There are currently around 16 million international couples in the EU. It is inevitable when such families break up that family members often end up living in different countries, a situation that is fraught with difficulties from a family law point of view.
These difficulties include, for example, knowing which courts have jurisdiction to hear a divorce application or a case on matters of parental responsibility, how a judgment will be recognised and enforced in another member state, the issue of enforcement of maintenance obligations abroad and how cross-border parental child abduction can be prevented.