WRITTEN QUESTION E-1829/01

by Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) to the Commission

(22 June 2001)

Subject: Recognition of marriage and steps towards equal treatment

In a recent ruling on registered partnerships, the European Court of Justice stated that marriage is generally defined as being between two heterosexuals. As you will be aware, the Netherlands has recently opened civil marriage to homosexual citizens. At this time, the Netherlands is the only country in the world to have done so.

The ruling on registered partnerships caused some confusion on what the Commission's interpretation will be. Can the Council confirm that all its married employees will be treated equally, regardless of their sexual orientation or the gender of their partner? Moreover, I would like to know what steps are being taken to ensure equal treatment of married and non-married employees, including those with a registered, but non-matrimonial, partnership.

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(18 September 2001)

The statement of the Court of Justice referred to by the Honourable Member relates to the definition of marriage in Member States and does not purport to express a view about the interpretation of this term in Community law. It was made in a case that concerned the rights of registered partners of the same sex that was brought at a time before the Staff Regulations were amended in order to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In the light of the new situation regarding marriages in the Netherlands, the Commission has proposed to the Heads of Administration of all Institutions to agree on a harmonised practice of recognising these marriages for the purposes of the Staff Regulations. Pending a solution on an inter-Institutional level, the Commission will proceed to react positively to requests by officials as soon as legal details have been clarified.

In adopting its Reform Strategy White Paper of 1 March 2000(1), the Commission decided that the conditions for recognising stable partnerships of staff, whether heterosexual or homosexual, would be defined under the Staff Regulations. One option which might be considered is to adopt a recognition procedure solely for the purpose of claiming rights and obligations under the Staff Regulations that apply to the staff of the European Institutions. Such a procedure would then apply to all partnerships irrespective of whether, and to whatever extent, they have already been recognised by a Member State.

It is essential, of course, for the European Institutions to settle upon a legally resilient definition and in November 2000 therefore, the Commission's Consultative Document on Equal Opportunities(2) announced the launch of a study to investigate the legal issues associated with this subject, such as the effect of recognition of such partnerships on rights arising under the national legislation of the Member States. The objective of the study is to find a legally acceptable solution which would avoid discrimination between officials according to their nationality and would confer appropriate rights and obligations on recognised partnerships.

In this context, relevant legal experts in Member States have been asked to report on the national legal situations.

As soon as clarification on all outstanding questions is provided, the Commission will consider the best approach to recognition of registered non-marital partnerships and make formal recommendations.

(1) COM(2000) 200.

(2) SEC(2000) 2085.