EU Regulation on Succession and Wills Published in the Official Journal
The EU regulation on succession (see our most recent post here) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union n. L 201 of 27 July 2012. The official reference is the following: Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession (OJ n. L 201, p. 107 ff.).
Pursuant to its Art. 84(2), the regulation shall apply from 17 August 2015, to the succession of persons who die on or after the same date (see Art. 83(1)). Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom did not take part in the adoption of the instrument and are not bound by it.
Our friend Federico Garau, over at Conflictus Legum, provides an excellent summary of the main principles underlying this new piece of EU PIL legislation. A rich list of references on the regulation and its legislative history is pointed out by Pietro Franzina, at the Aldricus blog.
What is the City (Rome, Brussels ?) and Number (III, IV ?) by which this instrument is to be known by those who find the long title a rather distasteful mouthful ?
For a long time, the Succession Regulation was known as Brussels IV and the proposed Matrimonial Property Regime Regulation as Brussels III. The latter then became known as Rome IV.
I suspect that the potential embarrasment of having a Brussels IV and no Brussels III may be one reason that it is now called the Succession Regulation.