Ten Years of European Family Law: Retrospective Reflections from a Common Law Perspective

Council Regulation 1347/2000 (the ‘Brussels II Regulation’) marked the beginning of the ‘Europeanization’ of family law. This article analyses the development of EU family law policy over the last decade, with particular focus on the common law perspective. It is argued that the Brussels II Regulation and the ensuing EU family law measures have had (and will have) a significant negative impact in English and Irish law, clashing with internal legal policy and sitting uneasily alongside existing legal structures.