The EU Succession Regulation and third countries

By relying on habitual residence as the relevant criterion for the purposes of both jurisdiction and applicable law, the Succession Regulation advances the parallelism between forum and ius. At first sight, this may suggest that only minor or limited problems may arise vis-à-vis third countries: however, as this Chapter illustrates, several of the Regulation's rules affect successions linked to third countries. On the one hand, unlike what may be inferred from Recitals 7 and 38, the Succession Regulation does not apply only to the succession of EU citizens. On the other hand, while the Regulation applies, in principle, to successions with cross-border implications within the Union, it does not identify which cross-border elements qualify as relevant - and such elements may point to or be located in two or more Member States, or in one Member State and in one or more third countries. Finally, the Regulation does not supersede the international conventions to which one or more Member States are party and which concern matters covered by the Regulation. Against this background, this Chapter examines in detail the interface of the Succession Regulation with situations connected to third countries, tackling, i.a., questions of subsidiary jurisdiction, lis pendens, limitation of proceedings, forum necessitatis, prorogation of jurisdiction, and recognition and enforcement of judgments.