Proposal for the Regulation in Matters of Parenthood: A Critical Overview of Jurisdictional and Conflict-of-Laws Rules

In 2022, the European Commission (EC) published the Proposal for a Council Regulation on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition of decisions, and acceptance of authentic instruments in matters of parenthood and on the creation of a European Certificate of Parenthood. Its main objective is to ensure that same-sex couples receive recognition of parenthood. The article offers a concise critical overview of the two aspects of this Proposal – jurisdictional and conflict-of-laws rules. In particular, the author observes that the Proposal suffers from the mismatch between its particular focus on rainbow families and a much broader scope. While its rules are advantageous for surrogacy arrangements and rainbow families, the authors of the Proposal have seemingly forgotten that according to its scope, the Proposal covers certain forms of adoption and paternity disputes that may arise years after the child’s birth. Jurisdictional rules and conflict-of-laws rules found in the Proposal are less suitable for these types of “parenthood matters”. Nonetheless, overall, even if these technical deficiencies were to be solved, the Proposal’s future seems grim as it takes a definitive stance on the divisive issues of same-sex parenthood and surrogacy arrangements.