Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe

Debate has occurred throughout Europe over proposals to legalise same-sex marriage as well as same-sex civil unions. Currently 33 of the 50 countries and the 8 dependent territories in Europe recognise some type of same-sex union, among them most members of the European Union (24/27). Nearly 43% of the European population lives in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal.

As of February 2024, twenty-one European countries legally recognise and perform same-sex marriages: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. An additional ten European countries legally recognise some form of civil union, namely Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, and San Marino.

Poland and Slovakia recognise private contractual cohabitation of two persons (regardless of sexual orientation or relationship type - including non-sexual non-intimate relationships) for limited purposes. Although they do not recognise same-sex unions themselves, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Romania are bound by a ruling by the European Court of Justice to recognise same-sex marriages performed within the EU and including an EU citizen for the purposes of granting legal residence,^[1] though this ruling is not always respected in practice, as in the case of Romania which has not implemented the ruling.^[2] In December 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that by failing to legalise same-sex unions, Poland had violated the right to respect for private and family life.^[3]

Of the countries that perform same-sex marriages, some still allow civil unions, e.g. the Benelux nations, France and the United Kingdom,^{[nb 1]} whereas Germany, Ireland and the Nordic countries have ended their pre-marriage civil union legislation so that existing unions remain but new ones are not possible.

Several European countries do not recognise any same-sex unions. Marriage is defined as a union solely between a man and a woman in the constitutions of Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Of these, however, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia and Montenegro allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

^ Cite error: The named reference bbc050618 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Boffey, Daniel (14 September 2021). "MEPs condemn failure to respect rights of same-sex partners in EU". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
^ "Poland's laws on same-sex couples violate human rights code, court rules". POLITICO. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).

[bbc050618-1] Cite error: The named reference bbc050618 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[boffey-2] Boffey, Daniel (14 September 2021). "MEPs condemn failure to respect rights of same-sex partners in EU". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2021.

[politico.eu-3] "Poland's laws on same-sex couples violate human rights code, court rules". POLITICO. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

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