Council Regulation (EU) 2016/1104 in matters of the property consequences of registered partnerships: Some controversial issues from its implementation in the Spanish IPL system

Abstract

On July 8, 2016, was published the Council Regulation (EU) 2016/1104, implementing
enhanced cooperation in the area of jurisdiction, applicable law and the recognition and enforcement of
decisions in matters of the property consequences of registered partnerships. This Regulation is a milestone
in the construction of EU private international law, since never before the registered unions had been the
protagonists of a EC Regulations. This paper analyzes some of the problems that its implementation in the
Spanish system of Private International Law will arouse. In the first place, it will be complicated for the
legal operator identifying the couples covered by the Regulation. Second, another of the controversial
aspects that may result in the entry into force of this rule in the Spanish IPL system, is the relative to the
applicable law when it corresponds to a State with more than one legal system, like Spain. We have a notion
that the diversity of autonomic regulations can produce problems of internal conflicts of laws, as happens
with other regulations, such as the one of successions, for example. It is studied if this diversity will
constitute a real problem of application of the Regulation 2016/1104 and what the possible solutions would
be.