A top European court on Tuesday ruled that an EU nation had to recognise a gay marriage recorded in another member state, following a complaint by two Poles married in Germany.
The couple, one of whom also has German nationality, were living there and married in Berlin in 2018.
But when they tried to move to Poland and requested their marriage certificate be registered there, they were "refused on the ground that Polish law does not allow marriage between persons of the same sex", the Court of Justice of the European Union said in a statement.
"The spouses in question, as EU citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the Member States and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their Member State of origin," the court said.
It said "such a refusal is contrary to EU law" and "infringes not only the freedom to move and reside, but also the fundamental right to respect for private and family life".
- Catholic tradition -
Contacted by AFP, the Polish NGO Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH) welcomed what it termed a "very positive" decision.
In advance of Poland establishing its own legislation, "the transcription of a foreign marriage certificate into Polish and its registration in Polish records already represents a significant step forward", said Przemyslaw Walas, a KPH official.
Polish associations estimate that between 30,000 and 40,000 Polish citizens have contracted marriages abroad.
They now anticipate a surge of couples bringing their cases to city halls in Poland following the ECJ ruling.
Traditionally, Catholic Poland has yet to undertake the social and secular reforms implemented since the early 2000s in many other European countries.
In Poland, only marriage formalises the union between two people -- and exclusively people of opposite sexes -- while its 2021 abortion legislation is one of the most restrictive in Europe.
Women can only undergo abortions in hospitals if their pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or incest, or else poses a direct threat to the life or health of the mother.
Aiding an abortion is punishable by three years in jail.
According to official data, fewer than 900 abortions were performed in hospitals last year in a country of 38 million.
- Blocked reforms -
The centrist coalition ruling Poland under Prime Minister Donald Tusk has recently embarked upon reform initiatives.
Poland's education minister, Barbara Nowacka, on Tuesday welcomed the court's decision as "an important victory for the respect of rights and dignity", while leftist senator Magda Biejat called it a "historic decision".
But on the political right, several figures blasted what they saw as an assault on Polish sovereignty, with some going as far as to demand a "Polexit" -- Poland's withdrawal from the EU.
For conservative former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro -- currently in Hungary amid allegations of misappropriation of public funds -- the ruling "wholly subjects member states to the leftist agenda".
The executive now has to negotiate political cohabitation since the election in June of nationalist conservative Karol Nawrocki as president.
At the instigation of leftist parties, the coalition introduced a civil unions bill in October, including for same-sex couples, which Tusk described as a "small step forward".
Nawrocki, a devout Catholic backed by the Law and Justice party (PiS), which has been behind numerous conservative laws passed since 2015, has warned he will not sign any legislation that would turn civil unions into "quasi-marriages" and would also veto any measure to liberalise abortion laws.
In its statement Tuesday, the Court of Justice noted the inclusion of a union between two people of the same sex enshrined in national law remains the responsibility of each member state.
The conditions for recognising such unions concluded in another country also remain the prerogative of each individual EU member, but recognition must grant the same rights as those provided for in acts of union for which transcription is requested.
Poland, along with Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia, is one of the last remaining European countries still to legalise either marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
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