EU member states are obliged to recognise the marriage of two people of the same sex when it has been legally concluded in another member state, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Tuesday.
The case concerned two Polish citizens married in Germany whose home country refused to register their marriage, as Poland does not recognise same-sex unions. The court found that this refusal breaches EU law because it restricts the couple's freedom of movement within the Union and prevents them from enjoying rights they have already acquired.
Such a refusal, the judges said, "undermines that freedom as well as the right to respect for private and family life".
"Member states are therefore required to recognise, for the purposes of exercising the rights conferred by EU law, the marital status legally acquired in another member state," the CJEU added.
However, the court clarified that this does not oblige Poland to introduce same-sex marriage into its domestic legal system.
