EU’s Top Court Orders States to Recognize Same-Sex Marriages Performed Elsewhere in the Bloc

Overview

• The Court of Justice of the European Union held that refusing recognition violates freedom of movement and the right to private and family life.
• The case arose from two Polish citizens married in Berlin in 2018 whose German marriage certificate was refused transcription in Poland.
• Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court referred the questions to the EU court and must now decide the couple’s registration in light of the ruling.
• Countries that do not allow same-sex marriage, including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, must establish procedures to recognize such unions for EU‑conferred rights.
• LGBT+ groups welcomed the decision, while in Poland efforts to pass civil-union legislation face resistance from a conservative coalition partner and a presidential veto threat.