Each link leads to the page of the site devoted to that topic for this country. The general topic sits at the top of each of those pages.
The Union in brief
The European Union, 27 states and 450 million people, has no power over marriage, parenthood or abortion, which remain national; what it regulates is what happens when a couple crosses a border: which court hears the divorce (Brussels II-ter), which law governs the couple's property (2016 regulation) and the estate (2012 regulation), and how a marriage — including a same-sex marriage — must be recognised for residence rights (Coman judgment, 2018).
The General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act and the 2024 directive on violence against women apply in every member state, and medicines such as the over-the-counter morning-after pill are authorised Union-wide. The pages below explain, for each theme, what belongs to the Union and what stays with each state, with the English-speaking member Ireland as the closest example.
Advice
- Childcare
- Copyright
- Data protection
- Divorce
- Domestic violence
- Fundamental rights
- Healthy, good-looking teeth
- Identity theft
- Image rights
- Inheritance
- Marriage
- Matrimonial property and inheritance
- Naming law, country by country
- Online shopping
- Partnerships and cohabitation
- Privacy
- Romance scams
- Sexual offences committed abroad
- Speech and online harassment
Health
Locate this page in the site map
A question, a correction, a suggestion? Write to us.