(Reference for a preliminary ruling– Validity– Judicial cooperation in civil matters– Jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for divorce– Article18 TFEU– Regulation (EC) No2201/2003

3According to recital12 of Council Regulation (EC) No1347/2000 of 29May 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and in matters of parental responsibility for children of both spouses (OJ 2000 L160, p.19), which was repealed, with effect from 1March 2005, by Regulation No2201/2003:

‘The grounds of jurisdiction accepted in this Regulation are based on the rule that there must be a real link between the party concerned and the Member State exercising jurisdiction; the decision to include certain grounds corresponds to the fact that they exist in different national legal systems and are accepted by the other Member States.’

4According to recital1 of Regulation No2201/2003:

‘The European Community has set the objective of creating an area of freedom, security and justice, in which the free movement of persons is ensured. To this end, the Community is to adopt, among others, measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters that are necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market.’

5Article1 of that regulation, headed ‘Scope’, provides, in paragraph1:

‘This Regulation shall apply, whatever the nature of the court or tribunal, in civil matters relating to:

(a)divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment;

…’

6Article3 of that regulation, headed ‘General jurisdiction’, provides:

‘1. In matters relating to divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, jurisdiction shall lie with the courts of the Member State

(a)in whose territory:

–the spouses are habitually resident, or

–the spouses were last habitually resident, in so far as one of them still resides there, or

–the respondent is habitually resident, or

–in the event of a joint application, either of the spouses is habitually resident, or

–the applicant is habitually resident if he or she resided there for at least a year immediately before the application was made, or

–the applicant is habitually resident if he or she resided there for at least six months immediately before the application was made and is either a national of the Member State in question or, in the case of the United Kingdom and Ireland, has his or her “domicile” there;

(b)of the nationality of both spouses or, in the case of the United Kingdom and Ireland, of the “domicile” of both spouses.

2.For the purpose of this Regulation, “domicile” shall have the same meaning as it has under the legal systems of the United Kingdom and Ireland.’

7Article6 of that regulation, headed ‘Exclusive nature of jurisdiction under Articles3, 4 and 5’, provides:

‘A spouse who:

(a)is habitually resident in the territory of a Member State, or

(b)is a national of a Member State, or, in the case of the United Kingdom and Ireland, has his or her “domicile” in the territory of one of the latter Member States,

may be sued in another Member State only in accordance with Articles3, 4 and 5.’