The Repatriation of Mortal Remains Within the EU: An Inventory of the Questions Addressed by the Members of the European Parliament to the Commission and the Correlative Answers

Abstract

In the context that the European Commission has the right of initiative to propose new legislation, we identified a series of questions addressed to the Commission by MEPs between 1995 and 2015 on the repatriation of corpses within the EU. This inventory aims to provide an overview of the questions and their correlative answers in order to highlight the reasons why parliamentarians considered it necessary to address these questions and how the Commission justified its position of not initiating specific legislative measures on the conveyance of corpses within the EU. For the moment we find ourselves in the awkward situation that the freedom of movement applies only to the living and the free movement of funeral services did not really improve, nor truly simplified the repatriation of mortal remains. However, an increase in deaths outside the state where the burial should take place may tip the balance, sooner or later, in favour of EU legislative measures that will replace the current international agreements and harmonise the national provisions.