Names
Names are an exclusive national competence. The Court of Justice nonetheless held, in Garcia Avello in 2003 and Grunkin-Paul in 2008, that refusing to recognise a name lawfully acquired in another member state creates serious inconvenience incompatible with free movement. Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 separately abolished the apostille for civil status documents circulating between member states.
The basis is not a right to a name but free movement: it is the concrete inconvenience — diplomas, accounts and passports in different names — that makes refusal contrary to Union law.
The Court has accepted limits: a state may refuse a name contrary to its public policy, such as a noble title in a republic that abolished them.
Key points
| Instruments | No directive; Court of Justice case law |
|---|---|
| Garcia Avello (2003) | Recognition of a double surname acquired in another member state |
| Grunkin-Paul (2008) | A name registered at birth in another state must be recognised |
| Competence | The law of names remains national |
| Civil status documents | Exempt from apostille between member states since 2019 |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a European law of names?
No directive. Only the Court's case law, based on free movement, requires recognition of a name acquired elsewhere.
Can my child bear the same name in two states?
Yes, that is precisely what Grunkin-Paul guarantees for a name registered at birth in another member state.
Can a state refuse a name?
Yes, on public policy grounds, but not merely because it does not match its own rules on how surnames are transmitted.
Do I need an apostille for a birth certificate?
Not between member states, since Regulation (EU) 2016/1191.
Assisted reproduction
Directive 2004/23/EC sets quality and safety standards for the donation, procurement, testing, storage and distribution of human tissues and cells, including gametes and embryos. It requires accreditation of establishments, traceability from donor to recipient, notification of serious adverse events, and the principle of voluntary unpaid donation. Eligibility — couples, single women, age limits, anonymity — remains entirely national, which is why cross-border fertility travel happens within the Union itself. A couple from another member state at a Spanish clinic: safety standards are shared, but conditions of access remain national.
It is precisely because eligibility is not harmonised that patients cross a border: Spain, Belgium and Czechia allow what other states refuse, while applying the same safety standards.
The traceability requirement has a useful practical consequence: an establishment must be able to identify a gamete donor for thirty years, even where national law keeps the donor anonymous to the child.
Same-sex couples: no European rule either requires or forbids access for female couples to assisted reproduction: it is wholly a national competence, which is why people travel between member states.
Key points
| Instrument | Directive 2004/23/EC and its implementing directives |
|---|---|
| Subject | Quality, safety and traceability of tissues and cells |
| Donation | Principle of voluntary, unpaid donation |
| Traceability | Donor to recipient and back, for thirty years |
| Eligibility | Entirely national; the Union does not harmonise it |
Frequently asked questions
Does the Union decide who can have treatment?
No. Eligibility is entirely national; the Union governs only safety and traceability.
Can donation be paid?
The Directive lays down voluntary unpaid donation; permitted compensation varies between states.
Can gametes move between states?
Yes, between accredited establishments, subject to the Directive's traceability and safety requirements.
Why do the rules differ so much?
Because bioethics is a national competence: the Union harmonises safety, not access.
The general article: Assisted reproduction · Compare with another country
Childcare
Ten days of paternity leave, four months of parental leave of which two are non-transferable, five carers' days: this floor has been European since August 2022.
Directive (EU) 2019/1158, to be transposed by 2 August 2022, sets a minimum: at least ten working days of paid paternity leave at birth, four months of parental leave per parent of which two months are non-transferable and paid, five days a year of carers' leave, and a right to request flexible working until the child is eight. It says nothing about the organisation of childcare itself, which remains national and often local.
The non-transferability of two months of parental leave is the decisive design feature: it exists so that fathers take them, since they are lost otherwise.
The Directive says nothing about nurseries or childminders: the supply, funding and pricing of childcare remain a national, sometimes regional, competence.
Key points
| Instrument | Directive (EU) 2019/1158, transposition by 2 August 2022 |
|---|---|
| Paternity leave | At least ten working days, paid |
| Parental leave | Four months per parent, two non-transferable and paid |
| Carers' leave | Five days a year |
| Flexible working | Right to request until the child is eight |
Frequently asked questions
How much paternity leave?
At least ten paid working days as a floor; several states go well beyond.
Is parental leave paid?
At least two of the four months must be, and those two cannot be transferred to the other parent.
What is carers' leave?
Five days a year to assist a seriously ill or dependent relative.
Does the Directive require nursery places?
No. The organisation and funding of childcare remain national.
The general article: Childcare · Compare with another country