The general framework of european intervention in the area personal and family

Abstract

This paper analyzes the European Union intervention in the area personal and family, comparing the intervention with those that take place in the most relevant international treaties (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural and The Convention on the Rights of the Child) and in the Spanish Constitution. The conclusions obtained are several. First, no major innovations are noted in the European Union Treaties nor in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which merely reiterates rights enshrined in international instruments such as the Spanish Constitution, although the Charter be considered definitive liquidation of the marriage and family relationship based on hierarchy. Moreover the highest level of European Union intervention in the family takes place through legislation which, based on their expertise in the internal market has set up a specific model of cross-border family. This work is a legal argument for freedom of setting personal and family relationships that currently are impeded by national, European and international legal rules.