Coinciding with the informal Council meeting of EU Ministers of Justice (see above), Eurobarometer has published the results of a survey conducted (between 31 March and 5 April 2006) on a sample of 25,000 citizens over the age of 15 from 25 member states. The survey asked the interviewees to express an opinion on various aspects of international family law. Many of the hopes expressed for improvements to the system regard the simplification of the procedures between member states and the role that the European Union could play in this respect: the recognition of the certificates of civil status, practices of international adoption and the assignment of children are the main areas of concern for Europeans. As regards divorce, virtually one citizen out of two supports freedom of choice regarding the applicable legislation: as many as 87 out of a 100, on the other hand, are favourable to the automatic recognition of consensual divorces in another member state. High percentages of interviewees support the recognitions of wills (80%) and acts of succession (77%). Lower – though still significant – are the percentages of those who think the EU ought to include among its priorities cross-border recognition of legal documentation (38%), the introduction of standard documents (38%) and the improvement of translation (20%).
