For Europeans living abroad, developing Alzheimer’s or losing the ability to fully exercise their legal rights can quickly create difficult legal and personal questions for families across borders.
Decisions around care, housing, finances or medical treatment often depend on who is legally allowed to act on somebody’s behalf - a process that can become far more complicated when relatives live in another EU member state.
Last week, EU legislators found an agreement on EU rules to sort out the applicable law and the responsible jurisdiction when it comes to protecting or supporting adults who need so.
The rules concern people over 18 who cannot exercise their full legal rights due to an impairment of some kind, such as Alzheimer’s, brain injuries or a coma. This concerns up to 780,000 people in the EU.
Jana Toom MEP (EE), the European Parliament Rapporteur for the file, said:
“Today, families are left navigating a maze of different national rules and complex procedures to ensure their loved ones are legally protected. This new EU law tidies up definitions and harmonises concepts across the EU. You’d be surprised how much of a difference clear legal wording can make for distressed family members trying to help elderly parents or life partners incapacitated in another EU country.”
As more Europeans choose to live, retire and work across borders, the agreement reflects a growing recognition that legal protection and family responsibility increasingly extend beyond one single national system.