«A Member State shall have the obligation to recognise a marriage between two Union citizens of the same sex which has been legally contracted in another Member State where they have exercised their freedom of movement and residence» .
This is what the EU Court of Justice has said in a ruling on the case of two Polish citizens, married in Germany , who requested that their marriage certificate be transcribed in the Polish civil registry so that the marriage would be recognised in Poland.
The competent Polish authorities rejected the two citizens' request on the grounds that Polish law does not permit same-sex marriage. The Court of Justice, in response to a preliminary question raised by a national court, held that the refusal to recognize a marriage between two EU citizens, legally contracted in another Member State where they exercised their freedom of movement and residence, is contrary to EU law because it violates that freedom and the right to respect for private and family life.
«Member States are therefore required to recognise, for the purposes of exercising the rights conferred by Union law, marital status lawfully acquired in another Member State» , explains the Court in its ruling on the case, dating back to 2018.
The Court recalls that, although the rules on marriage fall within the competence of the Member States, they are required to respect EU law in exercising that competence. The spouses in question, as citizens of the Union, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the Member States and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon their return to their Member State of origin.
"In particular, when they establish a family life in a host Member State, particularly by virtue of marriage, they must be certain that they will be able to continue that family life upon their return to their Member State of origin ," the Luxembourg-based court emphasizes.
(Unioneonline)
