Brussels, 30/06/2015(Agence Europe) - On Monday 29 June, the First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, spoke at an event organised by the ILGA, an association that defends the rights of gays and lesbians in Europe. He said that in the long term, he wanted to see all member states recognising marriage between partners of the same sex.
Timmermans, from the Netherlands, stated: “The European Commission must lead from the front and unreservedly attempt to get all member states to agree to marriage for all”. The European Commission has no legal remit in this area.
So far, Belgium, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Sweden have legalised gay marriage. Ireland has just agreed to it too in a referendum. (Solenn Paulic)