Relations with other instruments
1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article and Articles 95 to 100, this Regulation shall, for the Member States, supersede conventions existing at the time of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 which have been concluded between two or more Member States and relate to matters governed by this Regulation.
2. Finland and Sweden were provided with the option of declaring in accordance with Article 59(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 and subject to the conditions set out in points (b) and (c) of that provision that the Convention of 6 February 1931 between Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden comprising international private law provisions on marriage, adoption and guardianship, together with the Final Protocol thereto, will apply, in whole or in part, in their mutual relations, in place of the rules of that Regulation. Their respective declarations have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union as an annex to Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003. They may be withdrawn, in whole or in part, at any moment by the said Member States.
3. The rules of jurisdiction in any future agreement to be concluded between the Member States referred to in paragraph 2 which relate to matters governed by this Regulation shall be in line with those laid down in this Regulation.
4. The principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of nationality between citizens of the Union shall be respected.
5. Decisions handed down in any of the Nordic States which have made the declaration provided for in paragraph 2 under a forum of jurisdiction corresponding to one of those laid down in Chapter II, shall be recognised and enforced in the other Member States under the rules laid down in Section 1 of Chapter IV.
6. Member States shall send to the Commission:
(a)
a copy of the agreements and uniform laws implementing these agreements referred to in paragraph 3;
(b)
any denunciations of, or amendments to, the agreements and uniform laws referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.
Such information shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Relations with certain multilateral conventions
In relations between Member States, this Regulation shall take precedence over the following Conventions in so far as they concern matters governed by this Regulation:
(a)
the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 concerning the Powers of Authorities and the Law Applicable in respect of the Protection of Minors;
(b)
the Luxembourg Convention of 8 September 1967 on the Recognition of Decisions Relating to the Validity of Marriages;
(c)
the Hague Convention of 1 June 1970 on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations;
(d)
the European Convention of 20 May 1980 on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children.
Relation with the 1980 Hague Convention
Where a child has been wrongfully removed to, or is being wrongfully retained in, a Member State other than the Member State where the child was habitually resident immediately before the wrongful removal or retention, the provisions of the 1980 Hague Convention shall continue to apply as complemented by the provisions of Chapters III and VI of this Regulation. Where a decision ordering the return of the child pursuant to the 1980 Hague Convention which was given in a Member State has to be recognised and enforced in another Member State following a further wrongful removal or retention of the child, Chapter IV shall apply.
Relation with the 1996 Hague Convention
1. As concerns the relation with the 1996 Hague Convention, this Regulation shall apply:
(a)
subject to paragraph 2 of this Article , where the child concerned has his or her habitual residence in the territory of a Member State;
(b)
as concerns the recognition and enforcement of a decision given by a court of a Member State in the territory of another Member State, even if the child concerned has his or her habitual residence in the territory of a State which is a contracting Party to the said Convention and in which this Regulation does not apply.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1,
(a)
where the parties have agreed upon the jurisdiction of a court of a State Party to the 1996 Hague Convention in which this Regulation does not apply, Article 10 of that Convention shall apply;
(b)
with respect to the transfer of jurisdiction between a court of a Member State and a court of a State Party to the 1996 Hague Convention in which this Regulation does not apply, Articles 8 and 9 of that Convention shall apply;
(c)
where proceedings relating to parental responsibility are pending before a court of a State Party to the 1996 Hague Convention in which this Regulation does not apply at the time when a court of a Member State is seised of proceedings relating to the same child and involving the same cause of action, Article 13 of that Convention shall apply.
Scope of effect
1. The agreements and conventions referred to in Articles 94 to 97 shall continue to have effect in relation to matters not governed by this Regulation.
2. The conventions referred to in Articles 95 to 97 of this Regulation, in particular the 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions, shall continue to have effect between the Member States which are Party thereto, in compliance with Articles 95 to 97 of this Regulation.
Treaties with the Holy See
1. This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to the International Treaty (Concordat) between the Holy See and Portugal, signed at the Vatican City on 18 May 2004.
2. Any decision as to the invalidity of a marriage taken under the Treaty referred to in paragraph 1 shall be recognised in the Member States on the conditions laid down in Subsection 1 of Section 1 of Chapter IV.
3. The provisions laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall also apply to the following international treaties with the Holy See:
(a)
'Concordato lateranense' of 11 February 1929 between Italy and the Holy See, modified by the agreement with additional Protocol signed in Rome on 18 February 1984;
(b)
Agreement between the Holy See and Spain on legal affairs of 3 January 1979;
(c)
Agreement between the Holy See and Malta on the recognition of civil effects to canonical marriages and to decisions of ecclesiastical authorities and tribunals on those marriages of 3 February 1993, including the Protocol of application of the same date, with the third Additional Protocol of 27 January 2014.
4. Recognition of the decisions provided for in paragraph 2 may, in Spain, Italy or Malta, be subject to the same procedures and the same checks as are applicable to decisions of the ecclesiastical courts handed down in accordance with the international treaties concluded with the Holy See referred to in paragraph 3.
5. Member States shall send to the Commission:
(a)
a copy of the Treaties referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3;
(b)
any denunciations of or amendments to those Treaties.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
