The new justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, took to the stage this week as the country-and-western singer, Tammy Wynette. With big blonde wig and microphone, she belted out her hit from the 1960s, D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Although the member states in the audience had dressed in their Stetsons, string ties, and snakeskin boots, only some of them were whooping and hollering. Others were sitting on their hands, but Tammy bravely sang on:

‘We spell out the words we don't want them to understandLike T.O.Y or maybe S.U.R.P.R.I.S.EBut the words we're hiding from them nowTear the heart right out of me.’

The words she was hiding were not only ‘D-I-V-O-R-C-E’, but also ‘E-N-H-A-N-C-E-D C-O-O-P-E-R-A-T-I-O-N’. That is because the commissioner made EU history this week by introducing for the first time a formal proposal (in relation to cross-border divorce) under the ‘enhanced cooperation’ procedure, which was introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997. This allows a number of member states – a minimum of 8, see article 43 – to introduce legislation among themselves only, without involving all 27 member states. Her predecessor, Jacques Barrot, had considered the idea, but never advanced it, because he was afraid of the consequence of introducing a ‘two-speed Europe’, where some member states go faster and further along the road of cooperation than others. No wonder she sang about her heart being torn out, since it is a wrench for the EU to admit collective defeat on a proposal which has been in the works for some years.

The history is that the Swedish government took the lead in opposing the original 2006 Rome lll proposal, since it could not accept something less liberal than its national law being argued in its courts. Latvia also argued that the changes could lead to the increased use of a non-national law in national courts. (You needn’t ask about the position of the UK. It was shouting ‘Crazy!’ from the audience, probably at what the commissioner was singing, but maybe just because it wanted her to cover the famous Patsy Cline hit.)Ten countries have been calling for enhanced cooperation: France, Italy, Spain, Romania, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Greece, and Bulgaria. Divorce has, unfortunately, some big European numbers – it is estimated that there are around 350,000 binational marriages every year in the union (of the 122 million EU marriages that take place every year) and 170,000 binational divorces (out of a total of more than one million EU divorces per year).

The commissioner’s agents were touring the rodeo meets and honky tonks of Brussels this week explaining her actions: ‘International couples often find themselves in a legislative jungle when filing for divorce because national laws can conflict with one another. Former spouses usually turn to their national courts in search of the most advantageous legislation, often at the expense of their partner. As a result, the spouse who has more financial resources is likely to gain an unfair advantage over the "weaker’ spouse". Our main aim is to ensure that differences between national judicial systems no longer constitute barriers to citizens' access to justice.’

The draft regulation will give spouses the possibility to choose by common agreement the country whose law will apply to their divorce, as long as they have a close connection to that country. If the parties cannot agree, the applicable law will be determined as follows: first, divorce and legal separation are primarily subject to the law of the country where the spouses have their common habitual residence; failing that, where they had their last recent common habitual residence if one of them still resides there; failing that, to the law of the spouses’ common nationality; and, failing that, to the law of the court before which the matter is brought.

The future procedure is that the Council of Ministers has to give its green light – by qualified majority – to this enhanced cooperation mechanism. Afterwards, the 10 member states concerned must approve their proposal unanimously.

The commissioner’s Grand Ole Opry show ended on a high note, with member states calling for their favourite country hits. They held their hands up, cigarette lighters burning, for All my Ex’s Live in Texas (George Strait, 1987), and shouted the house down for their lifestyle number one: Behind Closed Doors (Charlie Rich, 1974).