Automatic recognition (Brussels IIb art. 30)

Under EU law, a matrimonial or parental-responsibility decision rendered in one Member State is recognised as of right in the other Member States — no court intervention is required for the decision to produce its effects.

For practical circulation, the following must be produced :

• a copy of the decision;
• the standardised certificate annexed to the Regulation (Annexes I-IV).

A party may, however, request non-recognition in limited cases (public policy, right to be heard, contradiction with an earlier decision — arts. 38-39 Brussels IIb). Switzerland is not subject to this regime; the Lugano Convention is its civil and commercial equivalent.