The European Union’s top court on Nov. 25 ordered Poland to recognize same-sex marriages registered in other EU countries, even though Polish law does not allow marriage between two people of the same sex.
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said in a statement accompanying the ruling that refusing to recognize a same-sex marriage conducted in another member state “is contrary to EU law because it infringes that freedom and the right to respect for private and family life.”
“Member States are therefore required to recognise, for the purpose of the exercise of the rights conferred by EU law, the marital status lawfully acquired in another Member State,” the senior court stated.
However, the court emphasized that the ruling does not mean that Poland must now introduce same-sex marriage under domestic law.
The CJEU is based in Luxembourg and its purpose is to interpret EU law, ensuring that it is applied in the same way across all 27 member states in the bloc. It also settles legal disputes between EU institutions and national governments.
The ruling is related to a case in which two Polish citizens of the same sex were married in Berlin in 2018 and then sought to reside in Poland as a married couple, according to the CJEU’s statement.
When they returned to Poland and requested that their German marriage certificate be transcribed into the Polish civil register, that request was denied on grounds that Poland does not allow same-sex marriage.
The two then challenged that decision, leading to the CJEU judgment that “such a refusal is contrary to EU law.”
“It infringes not only the freedom to move and reside, but also the fundamental right to respect for private and family life,” the statement reads.
Poland, a predominantly Catholic country, is governed by a coalition, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, that is working on pushing through a bill on same-sex unions.
However, Tusk, a former European Council president, faces opposition from the conservative members of the governing alliance and the country’s president over legalizing civil partnerships.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki has said he would veto “any bill that would undermine the constitutionally protected status of marriage.”
Katarzyna Kotula, Poland’s minister of equality, said, “For many months, I have been waiting for today’s CJEU judgment, also while working on the first government bills on civil partnerships.”
