To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are at EU level to provide a unified approach to laws on succession and wills, with particular reference to proposals emanating from the Commission's Green Paper thereon; and if he will make a statement. (148242)

I have been asked to reply.

In 2004 the Council of the European Union invited the European Commission to prepare a Green Paper on the conflict of laws in matters of succession and related issues. The Green Paper was published in 2005 and suggested there was a need for the harmonisation of private international law rules in the field of succession.

The UK response to the Green Paper made clear that although the Government support, in principle, the development of proposals to help people with inheritance matters that have a cross-border element, it has serious concerns about the proposals that might emerge from the Commission's Green Paper. The UK detailed response is available on the EU website:

http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news/consulting_public/successions/contributions/contibution_uk_en.pdf

The Commission is now considering the responses to the Green Paper and is expected to publish a draft proposal for a regulation in late 2007 or early 2008.