In her first State of the Union address, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, surprised people by announcing that she would “push for mutual recognition of family relations in the EU”, so that parents recognised as such in one Member State would be recognised in all 27 Member States (see EUROPE 12561/3).
According to information obtained by EUROPE from several institutional sources, it is “almost certain” that a legislative proposal on this issue will be presented this Thursday as part of the European strategy on LGBTI+ rights (see EUROPE 12488/18).
Indeed, many LGBTI+ families are still faced with situations of legal limbo that impede their freedom to move around the EU, to settle in certain states or even leave some children semi-orphaned or temporarily stateless.
NELFA has been tracking these cases since 2018. Some parents, for example, were unable to return to their country of origin after the birth of their child abroad, because their country had refused citizenship to the child, as they did not recognise either parent or the birth certificate.
The organisation also details the case of a divorced mother who was unable to obtain parental rights or even to visit her son – although she was obliged to pay alimony – after her ex-partner, the child’s biological mother, had returned to live with their son in her country of origin. The latter only issued the child with a passport with an blank “father” entry, instead of a “parent 2” or “co-parent” space, as is done in other States.
Children’s rights. “I think that the Commission has understood that it is also about children’s rights”, Björn Sieverding, member of the Board of NELFA, told EUROPE. “You cannot discriminate against young children because of the sexual orientation of their parents”, he said.
He was very pleased to see the Commission take up this issue and hoped that the strategy would clarify the definition of the family in the European Directive on the “the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States” (2004/38).
A measure that could also eventually be extended to other regulations, such as the work-life balance directive or the EU working conditions directive, Elizabeth Gosme, Director of COFACE Families Europe assured EUROPE.
However, Mr Sieverding does not expect a decisive change and fears that “all efforts will stop at the Council of the EU”, as some countries like Poland or Hungary have already blocked several texts referring to the term LGBTI+. “It will be complicated to have major legislation on this subject”, a European source also acknowledged.
List of crimes. As part of the strategy, the Commission is also expected to announce an initiative to extend the EU list of crimes to all forms of sexually motivated hate speech and crimes, as committed in its work programme (see EUROPE 12584/19).
Examples of “good practice” are expected to also be put forward in areas where the Commission is not competent to legislate, such as education or health.
MEP Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, France), member of the LGBTI intergroup in Parliament, meanwhile, assured in a statement that announcements are coming on conversion therapies (see EUROPE 12579/32) and the rights of intersex and trans people.
His colleague Irène Tolleret (Renew Europe, France), member of the same intergroup, reminded EUROPE of the importance of providing specific measures regarding the right of asylum for LGBTI+ people, as some Member States still do not accept asylum applications based on sexual orientation. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)