Poland has been asked to recognize same-sex marriages registered elsewhere in the European Union, in a ruling by the EU’s top court.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said EU member states were obliged to recognize a same-sex marriage between two EU citizens that had been “legally celebrated in another member state”.
The ruling covers the case of a Polish couple who married in Berlin in 2018. When they decided to move to Poland, authorities refused to accept their marriage certificate because Polish law does not recognize same-sex marriage.
The ECJ made it clear that it would not be necessary to change Polish domestic law to recognize same-sex marriages.
Since the Netherlands recognized same-sex unions in 2001, several other EU countries have followed suit, but others, such as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, have not.
In September, Slovakia’s populist-nationalist government changed its constitution to allow only heterosexual couples to adopt children.
In its ruling on Tuesday, the CJEU said that while marriage rules fell within the competence of each member state, “countries had to comply with EU law in the exercise of that competence.”
As EU citizens, the Polish couple who married in Germany had the right to freedom of movement and to lead a family life, the court explained.
“In particular, by virtue of marriage, they must have the security of being able to carry out that family life upon returning to their Member State of origin,” he added, so forcing them to live as an unmarried couple in Poland was contrary to EU law and infringed on their rights.
Poland’s pro-European coalition government has attempted to promote the rights of same-sex couples, but its move could be vetoed by conservative President Karol Nawrocki.
The CJEU ruling was welcomed by Katarzyna Kotula, secretary of state and coalition ally of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said it was an important step on the path to marriage equality.
Meanwhile, center-left member of the European Parliament Krzysztof Smiszek wrote on social media that “history is happening.”
