On the obligation of an EU Member State to recognize the parent–child relationships in same-sex couples – commentary on the judgment of the Court of Justice of 14.12.2021 in case C-490/20, V.M.A. v. Stolichna, "Pancharevo"

In the judgment in case C-490/20 of 14.12.2021 r. V.M.A. v. Stolichna, "Pancharevo", the Court of Justice ruled that EU member states are obliged to recognize – for the purposes of EU free movement law – family ties established in another EU member state between a child and his or her same-sex parents. The V.M.A. ruling can be seen as a first step toward full recognition of rainbow families in Europe. However, due to the lack of clarification by the Court of a number of key concepts in this area, such as the scope of the principle of recognition or the scope of rights under Art. 21 TFEU, the judgment does not solve many important problems, and therefore its practical application may cause difficulties.

Biernat, S. (2020). Obywatelstwo. W: S. Biernat (Red.), Podstawy i źródła prawa Unii Europejskiej. Legalis

Bracken, L. (2022). Recognition of LGBTQI+parent familie cross European borders. Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1023263x221098050

Capitani, Ch. (2022). Rainbow families and the right to freedom of movement – the V.M.A. v. Stolichna obshtina, rayon "Pancharevo" case. http://eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2022/01/rainbow-families-and-right-to-freedom.html

Craig, P., & Burca, G. E. (2020). EU law: Text, cases and materials. Oxford University Press.

Meeusen, J. (2022). Functional recognition of same-sex parenthood for the benefit of mobile union citizens – Brief comments on the CJEU's Pancharevo Judgment. https://eapil.org/2022/02/03/functional-recognition-of-same-sex-parenthood-for-the-benefit-of-mobile-union-citizensbrief-comments-on-the-cjeus-pancharevo-judgment/(dostęp: 15.08.2022). https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197322000320

Sobczak, J. (2020). Artykuł 7 KPP. W: A. Wróbel (Red.), Karta Praw Podstawowych Unii Europejskiej. Komentarz. Wyd. 2/A. Legalis.

Tryfonidou, A. (2019) EU free movement law and the children of rainbow families: children of a lesser God? Yearbook of European Law, 38. https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yez001

Tryfonidou, A. (2022). The cross-border recognition of the parent-child relationship in rainbow families under EU law: A critical view of the ECJ's V.M.A. ruling. https://europeanlawblog.eu/2021/12/21/the-cross-border-recognition-of-the-parent-child-relationship-in-rainbow-familiesunder-eu-law-a-critical-view-of-the-ecjs-v-m-a-ruling/ https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2261640

Wróbel, A. (2020). Konstrukcja prawna zakazu dyskryminacji praz prawa do niedyskryminacyjnego traktowania. W: J. Maliszewska-Nienartowicz (Red.), Prawo antydyskryminacyjne. Legalis.