EU’s Top Court Orders Cross-Border Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages

Overview

• The Court of Justice of the European Union held that member states must recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in other EU countries when necessary to exercise rights under EU law.
• The decision arose from a Polish case involving two citizens who married in Berlin in 2018 and were refused transcription of their German marriage certificate at home.
• The court found that refusal to recognize such marriages breaches EU law by obstructing free movement and violating the right to private and family life.
• The judgment does not oblige countries to introduce same-sex marriage domestically but requires procedures to recognize marital status for EU-rights purposes.
• The ruling bears directly on states that ban same-sex unions, including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, with Poland also facing a stalled civil-unions bill and a presidential veto threat.