EU divorce move hits Irish residents

TENS of thousands of married couples living in Ireland, but who are from another EU country, will be barred from availing of a new proposal by Brussels to use their home country’s laws if they divorce.

Under plans put forward by 10 EU members yesterday, “international” couples are allowed to use foreign divorce laws if their marriage comes to an end.

The plan – drawn up by Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain – is allowed among a group of member states under EU co-operative rules provided nine or more countries support the proposal. Supporters of the move have insisted using home country divorce laws will help to ensure children and “the weaker partner” are not disadvantaged during divorce proceedings for any of the estimated 16 million “international” marriages in the EU, 300,000 of which occur every year.