The legal basis for family law

This ppt was presented at an interparliamentary meeting of the European Parliament on the Stockholm Programme on 20 June 2013:"A number of important initiatives in the field of police and judicial cooperation are provided for in the "The Stockholm Programme - an open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens" endorsed by the European Council on 10-11 December 2009 for the period 2010 to 2014. The Treaty of Lisbon has given national Parliaments a special role in these fields, for example in the evaluation of Eurojust's activities (Article 85 paragraph 1 TFEU) and in the scrutiny of Europol's activities (Article 88 paragraph 2 TFEU).Against this background, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament decided to invite Members of national Parliaments to an inter-parliamentary committee meeting on the Stockholm Programme: State of play regarding police and judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters.This meeting is intended to provide a forum for the exchange of views between national Parliaments and the European Parliament on these matters. Its timing will allow the use of the conclusions and insights of the meeting for the upcoming legislative procedures on Europol and Eurojust as well as for the evaluation of the Stockholm Programme which the Committees on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, on Legal Affairs and on Constitutional Affairs are jointly carrying out."This presentation considers the legal basis of the EU acquis on cross-border family law and evaluates the extent to which tools provided by the Treaties, such as enhanced cooperation and the 'passerelle clause' are appropriate in this area of law