During the mini-plenary session of the European Parliament on Wednesday 29 March, at the request of the Greens/EFA group, MEPs debated the rights of children in rainbow and same-sex families, particularly in Italy.
“If you are a parent in one Member State, you are a parent in all Member States”, said Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, German), echoing the words of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The MEP also explained the reasons for this initiative, which was motivated by current events in Italy: “The Italian Ministry of the Interior has restricted the practice of recognising same-sex parent certificates”.
The European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, spoke about the first ever strategy on LGBTQI+ equality adopted by the Commission in 2020 (see EUROPE 12600/23).
“EU law may require a Member State to recognise the parentage of a child established in another Member State and that, in order to avoid discrimination against certain categories of children, this obligation also applies to children of same-sex parents”, she said, under EU law on free movement.
These words, which found favour with several MEPs from the left and Renew Europe, were notably supported by Tiziana Beghin (NI, Italian). “It is a question of social justice. Commissioner, don’t hesitate to use all the powers provided for in the treaties to achieve recognition of children of same-sex couples”, she said.
On the right, the issue of surrogacy was raised at length by critics.
On 30 March, in a resolution on the Commission’s annual reports on the rule of law in the Member States (see EUROPE 13153/15), the European Parliament condemned “the Italian government’s instructions to the Milan City Council to stop registering children of same-sex parents”.
In this amendment, added due to current events, the European Parliament considers that “this decision will inevitably lead to discrimination not only against same-sex couples, but also and above all against their children”. This action thus constitutes “a direct violation of the rights of the child as enumerated in the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”.
The European Parliament is also concerned that this decision “is part of a wider attack on the LGBTQI+ community in Italy” and calls on the Italian government “to immediately reverse its decision”.
To read the report (in French): https://aeur.eu/f/662 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Nithya Paquiry)