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(1) On 15 April 2014, the Commission adopted a report on the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 . The report concluded that Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 is a well-functioning instrument that has brought important benefits to citizens, but that the existing rules could be improved. A number of amendments are to be made to that Regulation. In the interests of clarity, that Regulation should be recast.

(2) This Regulation establishes uniform jurisdiction rules for divorce, legal separation and marriage annulment as well as for disputes about parental responsibility with an international element. It facilitates the circulation of decisions, as well as of authentic instruments and certain agreements, in the Union by laying down provisions on their recognition and enforcement in other Member States. Moreover, this Regulation clarifies the child's right to be provided with an opportunity to express his or her views in proceedings to which he or she is subject and also contains provisions complementing the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction ('the 1980 Hague Convention') in relations between Member States. Therefore, this Regulation should help to strengthen legal certainty and increase flexibility, to ensure that access to court proceedings is improved and to ensure that such proceedings are made more efficient.

(3) The smooth and correct functioning of a Union area of justice with respect for the Member States' different legal systems and traditions is vital for the Union. In that regard, mutual trust in one another's justice systems should be further enhanced. The Union has set itself the objective of creating, maintaining and developing an area of freedom, security and justice, in which the free movement of persons and access to justice are ensured. With a view to implementing that objective, the rights of persons, in particular children, in legal procedures should be reinforced in order to facilitate the cooperation of judicial and administrative authorities and the enforcement of decisions in family law matters with cross-border implications. The mutual recognition of decisions in civil matters should be enhanced, access to justice should be simplified and exchanges of information between the authorities of the Member States should be improved.

(4) To this end, the Union is to adopt, among others, measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications, particularly when necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market. The term 'civil matters' should be interpreted autonomously, in accordance with the established case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union ('the Court of Justice'). It should be regarded as an independent concept to be interpreted by referring, first, to the objectives and scheme of this Regulation and, second, to the general principles which stem from the corpus of the national legal systems. The term 'civil matters' should therefore be interpreted as capable of extending also to measures which, from the point of view of the legal system of a Member State, might fall under public law. It should cover, in particular, all applications, measures or decisions in matters of 'parental responsibility' within the meaning of this Regulation, in accordance with its objectives.

(5) This Regulation covers 'civil matters', which includes civil court proceedings and the resulting decisions as well as authentic instruments and certain extra-judicial agreements in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility. Moreover, the term 'civil matters' should cover applications, measures or decisions as well as authentic instruments and certain extra-judicial agreements concerning the return of a child under the 1980 Hague Convention, which, according to the case-law of the Court of Justice and in line with Article 19 of the 1980 Hague Convention, are not proceedings on the substance of parental responsibility but closely related to it and addressed by certain provisions of this Regulation.

(6) In order to facilitate the circulation of decisions as well as of authentic instruments and certain agreements in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility, it is necessary and appropriate that the rules governing jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of decisions be governed by a legal instrument of the Union which is binding and directly applicable.

(7) In order to ensure equality for all children, this Regulation should cover all decisions on parental responsibility, including measures for the protection of the child, independent of any link with matrimonial proceedings or other proceedings.

(8) However, since the application of the rules on parental responsibility often arises in the context of matrimonial proceedings, it is appropriate to have a single instrument for matters of divorce and parental responsibility.

(9) As regards decisions on divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, this Regulation should apply only to the dissolution of matrimonial ties. It should not deal with issues such as the grounds for divorce, property consequences of the marriage or any other ancillary measures. Decisions refusing the dissolution of matrimonial ties should not be covered by its provisions on recognition.

(10) As regards the property of the child, this Regulation should apply only to measures for the protection of the child, namely the designation and functions of a person or body having charge of the child's property, representing or assisting the child, and the administration, conservation or disposal of the child's property. In this context, this Regulation should, for instance, apply in cases where the object of the proceedings is the designation of a person or body administering the child's property. Measures relating to the child's property which do not concern the protection of the child should continue to be governed by Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council . However, it should be possible for the provisions of this Regulation on jurisdiction over incidental questions to apply in such cases.

(11) Any type of placement of a child in foster care, that is, according to national law and procedure, with one or more individuals, or institutional care, for example in an orphanage or a children's home, in another Member State should fall within the scope of this Regulation unless expressly excluded, which is for example the case for placement with a view to adoption, placement with a parent or, where applicable, with any other close relative as declared by the receiving Member State. As a result, also 'educational placements' ordered by a court or arranged by a competent authority with the agreement of the parents or the child or upon their request following deviant behaviour of the child should be included. Only a placement – be it educational or punitive – ordered or arranged following an act of the child which, if committed by an adult, could amount to a punishable act under national criminal law, regardless of whether in the particular case this could lead to a conviction, should be excluded.

(12) This Regulation should not apply to the establishment of parenthood, since that is a different matter from the attribution of parental responsibility, nor should it apply to other questions linked to the status of persons.

(13) Maintenance obligations are excluded from the scope of this Regulation, as those obligations are already covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 . In addition to the courts for the place where the defendant, or the creditor, is habitually resident, the courts having jurisdiction under this Regulation in matrimonial matters should generally have jurisdiction to decide on ancillary spousal or post-marital maintenance obligations by application of point (c) of Article 3 of that Regulation. The courts having jurisdiction under this Regulation in matters of parental responsibility generally have jurisdiction to decide on ancillary child maintenance obligations by application of point (d) of Article 3 of that Regulation.

(14) According to the case-law of the Court of Justice, the term 'court' should be given a broad meaning so as to also cover administrative authorities, or other authorities, such as notaries, who or which exercise jurisdiction in certain matrimonial matters or matters of parental responsibility. Any agreement approved by the court following an examination of the substance in accordance with national law and procedure should be recognised or enforced as a 'decision'. Other agreements which acquire binding legal effect in the Member State of origin following the formal intervention of a public authority or other authority as communicated to the Commission by a Member State for that purpose should be given effect in other Member States in accordance with the specific provisions on authentic instruments and agreements in this Regulation. This Regulation should not allow free circulation of mere private agreements. However, agreements which are neither a decision nor an authentic instrument, but have been registered by a public authority competent to do so, should circulate. Such public authorities might include notaries registering agreements, even where they are exercising a liberal profession.