Less Bureaucracy for Citizens: Promoting Free Movement of Public Documents and Recognition of the Effects of Civil Status Records

Abstract

In December 2010, the European Commission published a Green Paper that proposes various actions to encourage the recognition of civil status documents across the EU and invited comments on its proposals. The Green Paper followed on from a public consultation on citizens' rights which sought to identify concrete actions that could be taken to tackle the challenges and obstacles faced by citizens when exercising their rights as citizens of the European Union. This response recommends the mutual recognition of civil status documents and identifies the practical steps which such recognition should entail. It also makes recommendations for the harmonisation of national procedures for the recognition of civil status documents issued by non-EU authorities through the incorporation of the Hague Convention on Apostille Certificates at the EU level.

Keywords: European Union, Citizenship of the Union, Free Movement, Single Market, Civil Status Documents, Hague Convention on Apostille Certificates

JEL Classification: K19, K29, K39, K49