The European Court of Justice today ruled that European Union countries must recognize same-sex marriages legally contracted in any EU country, even if their national legislation does not provide for them.
Refusal to recognize such marriages is “contrary to EU law because it violates that freedom and the right to respect for private and family life and can cause serious administrative, professional, and private difficulties, forcing spouses to live as unmarried persons.”
The case concerns two Polish citizens who married in Berlin in 2018 and then returned to Poland, where they requested that their German-language marriage certificate be transcribed into the Polish civil registry; the request was rejected, and the family therefore appealed to the European Court of Justice.