Overview
- The Court of Justice of the EU ruled that failure to recognize a same‑sex marriage lawfully concluded in another member state violates free movement and the right to private and family life.
- The decision does not compel countries to introduce same‑sex marriage in national law, requiring only recognition of marital status acquired abroad within the EU.
- The judgment arose from a Polish case involving two citizens married in Berlin whose request to transcribe their German marriage certificate in Poland was rejected.
- Poland must now recognize the marriage through transcription or an equivalent measure that does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
- NGOs anticipate a surge of applications in Poland from an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 citizens married abroad, with broader effects in other non‑recognizing states including Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Latvia.