_Publications
Notaries of Europe Alongside Citizens and Businesses
Bruxelles, 4 May 2020
Notaries of Europe Alongside Citizens and Businesses
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During this health and economic emergency, Europe’s 45,000 notaries are personally and collectively committed to playing their full role in the community effort to overcome the pandemic and to mitigate as far as possible the significant personal losses that are and will be suffered by large numbers of citizens. This is why they are taking action to ensure that the public service of justice, which is an essential service of general interest, continues to be provided in all territories.
To this end, depending on national situations and in cooperation with their supervisory authorities, measures have been taken to combat the spread of COVID-19 and to continue to provide their services for citizens and businesses. Notaries continue to draw up urgent acts (such as a will for a person in poor health or acts with significant financial consequences) and, as far as possible, less urgent acts, proposing to postpone them where necessary in consultation with clients.
In these difficult times that the European Union is going through, notaries work as responsible professionals, in solidarity with the population as a whole and anxious to contribute, through their work, to supporting the economy. Europe’s notaries perform a function of public authority, which affects both the conditions under which their delegation of public power is exercised and the effects of the acts they draw up. This is why, even in a crisis situation, the notaries of Europe continue to work with the same standards of quality and efficiency, always in strict compliance with the national legal frameworks.
Of course, the economic consequences of the crisis are already being felt in their offices, as legal work is currently experiencing a slowdown. However, they are standing alongside their States and the European institutions to face the current and future challenges. They will continue to provide certainty for legal transactions on behalf of States, citizens and businesses.
Le CNUE in brief
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The Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) is an official body representing the notarial profession in dealings with the European institutions. The CNUE includes 22 notarial organisations in the European Union, representing over 45,000 notaries and 200,000 staff.