The European Parliament adopted by a comfortable majority (387 votes in favour, 161 against and 123 abstentions), on Tuesday 14 September, a resolution supporting the European Commission’s draft legislation on parenthood in the Union - a draft that should remove obstacles to the free movement of same-sex couples and their children in the EU (see EUROPE 12776/1).
MEPs are calling for this legislative proposal to require the EU27 to recognise adults mentioned on a birth certificate issued in another State as the legal parents of the child concerned. And this, regardless of the gender of the parents.
Such a provision “would ensure that children do not become stateless when moving to another Member State” (see EUROPE 12599/22), say MEPs.
They also expect the forthcoming regulation to require all States to recognise any marriage or registered partnership that has been entered in another Member State.
Finally, MEPs call on future EU Council Presidencies to do their utmost to ensure that this regulation is implemented. Beyond this legislative initiative, they directly invite Member States to “introduce all relevant legislation to ensure full respect for the right to private and family life”.
Worrying situation
The resolution adopted by the Parliament was drafted on the initiative of the Committee on Petitions (PETI). The committee explained that it had received several petitions expressing concerns about the discrimination faced by LGBTIQ+ couples and families in the EU.
The PETI Committee also relied on a study published last March by the Parliament’s research department which concludes that “rainbow families still face major obstacles to their freedom of movement in the EU in 2021 with adverse consequences for the interests of their children”.
See the study in question: https://bit.ly/3kaaeOF and the text adopted: https://bit.ly/3Efe5Sq (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)