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A clear obligation under EU law

“A Member State is obliged to recognise a marriage between two EU citizens of the same sex when it was legally concluded in another Member State in which those citizens exercised their freedom of movement and residence,” the Court stated in its ruling.

The case involved two Polish nationals living in Germany, one of whom also holds German citizenship. After marrying in Berlin, they planned to return to Poland as a married couple. To ensure their marriage would be recognised, they applied to have their German marriage certificate transcribed into the Polish civil registry.

Polish authorities rejected the request, arguing that Polish law does not allow marriages between people of the same sex and that recognising such a marriage would violate fundamental principles of the Polish legal order.

The couple challenged the decision. When examining the case, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court referred it to the CJEU, asking whether EU law allows a Member State to refuse recognition or transcription of a same-sex marriage legally concluded elsewhere in the EU.

CJEU: Poland must recognise marriages concluded abroad

The CJEU ruled that “although rules governing marriage fall under national competence, Member States must exercise this competence in compliance with EU law.”

The Court stressed that EU citizens enjoy the freedom to move and reside across the EU and must be able to maintain “normal family life” both in their host country and upon returning home.

When a couple builds Family life abroad “through marriage,” the Court noted, they must have the certainty that this marriage will continue to be recognised when they return to their country of origin.

Therefore, Member States are required “for the purpose of exercising rights granted under EU law” to recognise a marital status that was established in accordance with the law of another Member State.

Refusing to transcribe the marriage certificate, the Court found, violates EU law because it restricts “not only freedom of movement and residence, but also the fundamental right to respect for private and family life.”

Importantly, the ruling states that recognising such a marriage does not compromise the national identity or public order of the Member State in question.

Does Poland need to legalise same-sex marriage?

The ruling does not force Poland to introduce same-sex marriage into its own domestic law. As the Court clearly notes, each country retains the freedom to define marriage within its legal framework.

However, Poland must recognise same-sex marriages that were legally concluded in other EU countries — and one of the ways to do so is by transcribing the marriage certificate into the national civil registry.

This requirement, the Court added, applies universally, “without distinction as to whether the spouses are of different or the same sex.”

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