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| The European Court of Justice has ruled that same-sex partners of EU citizens have the right to live in any member state whatever their nationality (AFP Photo/ ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI) |
Luxembourg
(AFP) - Same-sex partners of EU citizens have the right to live in any member
state whatever their nationality, even in countries that do not recognise gay
marriage, the bloc's top court ruled Tuesday.
EU laws on
freedom of movement extend to the non-European spouses of EU citizens and the
European Court of Justice judgement means this also includes same-sex partners.
The
decision, based on a case from Romania, risks further embittering relations
between more socially tolerant member states to the west of the EU and
conservative countries to the east.
The
Luxembourg-based court recognised that EU member states "have the freedom
whether or not to authorise marriage between persons of the same sex".
However, it
added "they may not obstruct the freedom of residence of an EU citizen by
refusing to grant his same-sex spouse, a national of a country that is not an
EU member state, a derived right of residence in their territory."
The court
was ruling in the case of Romanian man Relu Coman and his American husband
Robert Hamilton, who were married in Brussels in 2010 and two years later
sought to move to Romania.
The
Romanian authorities refused to give Hamilton permission to live in the country
for more than three months on the grounds that he could not be classified as
Coman's spouse because the laws there do not recognise same-sex marriage.
The couple
brought a case for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, arguing
that Coman's right to freedom of movement, guaranteed by EU law, had been
curtailed by the restriction placed on his husband.
The case
went to the Romanian Constitutional Court, which asked the ECJ whether under EU
law Hamilton should be regarded as Coman's spouse.
"In
the directive on the exercise of freedom of movement, the term 'spouse', which
refers to a person joined to another person by the bonds of marriage, is
gender-neutral and may therefore cover the same-sex spouse of an EU
citizen," the ECJ said.
'Victor
for equality'
EU member
states are free to decide whether or not to allow same-sex marriage in their
own territories, the court said, but refusing to recognise a union lawfully
made in another EU country "may interfere with the exercise of that
citizen's right to move and reside freely".
The court
said the obligation to recognise same-sex marriages for the purpose of granting
residence rights "does not undermine the national identity or pose a
threat to the public policy" of the country involved.
"We
can now look in the eyes of any public official in Romania and across the EU
with certainty that our relationship is equally valuable and equally relevant,
for the purpose of free movement within the EU," Coman said in a statement
released by ILGA-Europe, which campaigns for rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people.
"We
are grateful to the EU Court and to the many people and institutions who have
supported us, and through us, other same-sex couples in a similar situation. It
is human dignity that wins today."
The
Romanian courts will now have to rule on Coman and Hamilton's case based on the
ECJ judgment.
Evelyne
Paradis, ILGA-Europe executive director, said Tuesday's ruling was a victory
for "equality, fairness and pragmatism".
The court
"has confirmed that rainbow families should be recognised equally in the
eyes of the law on freedom of movement. Now we want to see the Romanian
authorities move swiftly to make this judgment a reality," Paradis said in
a statement.
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