Governance

Presidency

Each year, the CNUE member notariats appoint a new President for a one-year term. The President thus represents the 22 CNUE member notariats and 50 000 European notaries in their dealings with the European institutions. The President directs the work of the CNUE, sets guidelines and strives to find consensus to defend the positions of the European notariat.

Marius Stračkaitis, CNUE President 2024

The presidency of the Council of Notaries of the European Union (CNUE) in 2024 is a serious and responsible task and a great responsibility for Lithuania, which is the second country from the group of countries that joined the European Union two decades ago to take up the task of representing 50,000 European notaries and a fifth of a million notarial staff.

The situation of notariats is different in each EU country, but we are all united by a common goal – a strong and stable notarial profession. Strengthening the notariat will therefore be my first and foremost priority for the Lithuanian Presidency.

With this in mind, it should be remembered that we contribute to the provision of non-contentious justice, which helps to avoid costly disputes. Notaries are increasingly being called upon by lawmakers in many Member States to lighten the administrative, judicial and financial burdens: settlement of successions, protection of vulnerable adults, celebration of marriages, amicable settlement of divorces, etc. This transfer of tasks to notaries increases the efficiency of proceedings and thus promotes citizens’ access to justice. For this reason, I intend to focus on sharing experience between notariats and promote the use of preventive justice procedures in the adoption of future EU legislation.

The second priority of the Lithuanian Presidency of the CNUE is the digitalization of notarial services. We are well advanced in this area – we have developed a reliable eNotary system, we have interfaces with state data registers and we can perform the vast majority of notarial acts via a remote secure connection. Our goal is to keep pace with digital technologies and processes, while preserving the role of the notary as the ensurer of the rule of law.

The third priority of our Presidency is dictated by the signs of the times and by moral values – we must support the notariat in Ukraine, which is under Russian aggression. We must work tirelessly to help the reconstruction and digitalization of the Ukrainian notariat and to support notaries and their families who have been affected by the war. On 13 September, we will organise a conference in Vilnius that will serve as a platform for discussions on future cooperation between the CNUE, the Ukrainian notariat and the Ukrainian and European institutions.

> See the President’s CV

The situation of notariats is different in each EU country, but we are all united by a common goal – a strong and stable notarial profession. Strengthening the notariat will therefore be my first and foremost priority for the Lithuanian Presidency.

General Assembly

The General Assembly is composed of the Presidents of all the CNUE member notariats. The General Assembly is the political decision-making body of CNUE and usually meets three times a year. Among other things, it elects the President, approves proposals for major policy positions and priorities presented by the Board and ratifies the annual budget and financial accounts.

Board

The Board consists of the President, the Vice-President and five other directors. It is responsible for the day-to-day running of the CNUE’s work and makes decisions on everyday management. It usually meets once a month.

Working Groups

The CNUE set up working groups, the aim of which is to follow current EU developments and to draw up positions for the attention of the decision-making bodies. These working groups are composed of experts appointed by the CNUE member notariats and are chaired by a representative of one of the member notariats. In this way, the CNUE is present in every political or technical dossier that has an impact on the notarial function.

Permanent Office

Our team is composed of 8 members of different nationalities, experts in their fields of activity: lawyers, project managers, communication officers, etc. The members of the Permanent Bureau are responsible for monitoring the policy areas covered by the CNUE, relations with the European institutions, management of EU co-funded projects, internal and external communication, event organisation and the day-to-day management of the association. The Permanent Bureau is coordinated by the Secretary General.