Agreement on the Choice of Non-applicable Law or Law not in Accordance with Article 22(1) of the Twin Regulations: what Consequences for the Couple’s Property Regime?

Council Regulations (EU) 2016/1103 and 2016/1104 authorize cross-border couples to choose the law applicable to their property relationships based on one of the criteria listed in Article 22(1). However, the choice-of-law agreement may have a different content than that outlined in the wording of Article 22 of the Twin Regulations. The purpose of the analysis is to illustrate that it would be incorrect to argue that such agreements are a priori invalid or not permitted to party autonomy. This issue requires an assessment of the concrete purpose of the parties’ agreement and should at least be open to scrutiny by the competent court.