Who will speak on your behalf

The new European regulation on the protection of adults and the certificate of support and representation (2026)

My professional insights · Lyudmil Karaulanov · 5 min read

Published: 1 October 2026 · Version 1.0

Current as of 24 September 2026. The European regulation on the protection of adults has been agreed, but has not yet been formally adopted. Next review: September 2027.

The context

Since 2000 there has been a Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults, which determines which authorities have jurisdiction and which law applies when a person in need of protection has links with more than one country. So far it has been ratified by only 13 EU Member States. To overcome this fragmentation, in May 2023 the European Commission proposed a regulation to unify the rules for the whole Union.

After the Council adopted its position, on 12 May 2026 the Council and the European Parliament reached agreement on the text, which was approved at the beginning of June by the Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs. At the time of writing its formal adoption and publication are still to come. The occasion is demographic: according to EU data, the share of people over 65 with some form of disability will grow by 77% by 2050.

The central thesis

The regulation settles which court has jurisdiction in cross-border cases, which law applies and on what conditions protection measures or powers of representation established in another state are recognised. Measures adopted in one state will be recognised in another without additional procedures. A European certificate of support and representation is also introduced, with which the trusted person can prove his powers anywhere in the Union. It will be issued free of charge or for a fee equal to the administrative costs, and where possible in electronic form.

The core value that the text protects is autonomy: the person’s will and preferences must be respected, and he must be able to organise his protection in advance.

What is often overlooked

The regulation does not create new powers. It recognises and carries across those that national law already knows. If the law of a state does not allow a person to appoint a representative in advance for the event of incapacity, the European rules have nothing to recognise.

The scope is overlooked as well. The regulation concerns matters such as the place of residence, medical care and the management of property, but does not cover marriage, succession, social security or maintenance. And the interconnection of national registers that was originally envisaged was dropped in the course of the negotiations, on grounds of personal data protection and administrative burden.

A reading for the owner

For the Bulgarian owner the conclusion is an uncomfortable one. Bulgarian law does not at present recognise a power of attorney that takes effect, or remains in force, precisely when the person granting it loses the ability to look after his own affairs. An ordinary power of attorney ends when the person is placed under guardianship, that is, exactly when it is most needed. There has long been a debate in the legal community that the rules on guardianship, inherited from socialist doctrine, need to be rethought.

Until that happens, the European regulation only underlines the gap. The owner has to look for solutions at other levels: in the articles of association, in the allocation of powers of representation in the business, in clear instructions and in prepared people. We develop the theme in the analysis “Passing on wealth”.

The limit of applicability

The regulation is an instrument for cross-border cases. For a person whose life and property are entirely in one country it changes nothing. Moreover, it will begin to operate only after formal adoption and the expiry of the periods for application. In parallel, the discussion continues on whether all Member States should be obliged to accede to the Hague Convention.

The point of instability

What this concept means →

The point of instability arrives when the family realises that incapacity is the harder case than death. For death the law has well-known instruments. For incapacity during life, without representation arranged in advance, the only route is often court proceedings that take time and deprive the person of autonomy. The regulation will make Europe’s borders easier to cross, but it cannot fill the gap in our own law.

This material is of a general analytical nature and does not constitute individual legal, tax, financial or investment advice.