The European Union (EU) this week published proposals to ensure that LGBTQ+ parents are recognised across the bloc. Rights campaigners said the planned regulations could be a milestone for so-called “rainbow families” that could impact rights from citizenship to inheritance.
While some EU nations recognise same-sex unions and non-biological parents, others do not. At least one child has been left stateless as a result. “If you are parent in one country, you are parent in every country,” the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a 2020 speech promising action on the issue.
But the proposed rules would require the agreement of all member states, and could face resistance from Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria which restrict LGBTQ+ rights.
Here are all the details: What legal obstacles do LGBTQ+ families face? When same-sex couples in the EU decide to start a family they can face a variety of legal hurdles, said Alina Tryfonidou, an EU law professor at Neapolis University Pafos in Cyprus.