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Marie Lanen
Head of parenting section (baby, pregnancy, family)
If in France, same-sex parenting is recognized, this is not the case in all European countries. To avoid cumbersome administrative and legal procedures for these families, the European Commission proposes establishing a “certificate of affiliation”. Doctissimo enlightens you.
Medical decisions, custody of the child, alimony, inheritance, questions relating to schooling… In certain European countries, homoparental families do not have the same rights as in France. To simplify the daily life of these families, particularly across borders, the European Commission is proposing new rules on the recognition of parentage between Member States. We can also read on the official website of the European Commission: “The proposal is centered on the best interests and the rights of the child. It will bring legal clarity to all types of families who find themselves in a cross-border situation within the EU, whether because they move from one Member State to another to travel or reside there or because that they have family members or assets in another Member State.”
Homoparental family: several European countries do not recognize them…
Romania, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria or even Slovakia… These member countries of the European Union do not recognize homoparental families. Thus, for many day-to-day issues, the families concerned must engage in heavy administrative and/or legal procedures without any assurance that this will result in a favorable outcome. “If you are a parent in one country, you are a parent in all countries”, declared Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, before the Parliament of Strasbourg, in September 2020. Since then, the executive has been trying to put in place actions to illustrate this statement.
Several proposals aimed at protecting homoparental families
The main elements of the European Commission’s proposal are:
- Designation of the Member States of the competent court for matters related to parentage, ensuring the best interests of the child;
- Designation of the law applicable to the establishment of parentage : in general, the latter must be that of the State in which the person giving birth has his habitual residence. Where this rule results in the establishment of parentage in relation to only one of the parents, other options are provided to ensure that parentage can be established in relation to each of the two parents;
- Recognition of parentage via court decisions and authentic instruments establishing parentage or attesting to the establishment of parentage. Parentage established in one Member State should be recognized in all the other Member States (without any particular procedure);
- Creation of a European certificate of parentage (harmonise for all countries): children (or their legal representatives) could request this certificate from the Member State which established parentage and choose to use it to prove their parentage in all other Member States.
These proposals have been welcomed by several associations of homoparental families. Next step ? The proposal must be adopted unanimously by the Council, after consulting the European Parliament.