OpenLobby.EU
Explore

European Network on Statelessness

ENS

We are a civil society alliance of organisations and individuals working to promote the right to a nationality in Europe.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Birgit Sippel (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Sept 2024 · New Pact on Migration and statelessness

Meeting with Birgit Sippel (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

15 Sept 2023 · Screening Regulation (Staff-level)

Response to EU Citizenship Report 2023

12 Jul 2023

Risk of statelessness and loss of EU citizenship in cases of renunciation of nationality In the CJEU case C-118/20, JY renounced her Estonian nationality to acquire Austrian nationality. Austria revoked the assurance that the applicant would be granted nationality because she committed minor offences, leaving her stateless. The CJEU confirmed that this situation falls within the scope of EU law and held that, as part of the proportionality assessment, MS authorities should ensure that the decision to revoke an assurance is consistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. It found that the decision was not proportionate to the gravity of the offences and considered the impossibility of her recovering her original nationality. The applicants permanent loss of their EU citizenship was not justified. Risk of statelessness, EU citizenship and rainbow families Not recognising same-sex parenthood may leave children stateless, particularly when there is a cross-border dimension. A Member State (MS) may fail to recognise birth certificates issued in another MS, which include the names of both same-sex parents. A birth certificate is essential evidence of a child's family ties and their place of birth, which can be crucial to establishing the childs nationality. When a MS refuses to recognise parenthood as established in another MS, this can contribute to issues acquiring IDs and evidencing the childs nationality, putting them at risk of statelessness. Without proof of nationality, children face obstacles accessing other fundamental rights and both children and their parents are prevented from exercising free movement rights as EU citizens. In many MS, same-sex couples married abroad, and their children are denied access to civil registration in their country of nationality. Such cases have occurred across several MS and reflect a wider concerning trend in the EU. The CJEU delivered 2 judgments on the adverse impact on the rights of the child of the non-recognition of parenthood. In case C-490/20, Bulgarian authorities refused to issue a birth certificate to the daughter of a Bulgarian and a British mother who was born in Spain and issued a Spanish birth certificate with the names of both mothers, on the basis that it could only recognise parents of different sexes. The CJEU, recalling that the child had Bulgarian nationality by birth as found by the domestic court, held that EU law requires MS to issue an ID to their nationals, stating their nationality. Where a birth certificate issued in another MS designates parents of the same sex, the MS of which the child is a national is required to issue an ID to the child without requiring a birth certificate to be drawn up beforehand by its national authorities. It also held that the Bulgarian authorities and any other MS must recognise the parent-child relationship as established by the Spanish authorities to permit the exercise of the childs right to move and reside freely in the EU, and any documents that would allow such travel. EUMS cant justify their refusal to issue an ID to the child, or to recognise that parent-child relationship, on the grounds of public policy. See also case C-2/21 on Poland. Yet, the Bulgarian and Polish authorities still have to implement the rulings and issue IDs to the children. In case C-490/20, the child is still at risk of statelessness, unable to provide proof of Bulgarian nationality or to exercise the rights derived from it. The Supreme Administrative Court found that the judgment of the referring court ordering the municipality to issue a birth certificate with both mothers listed as parents was incorrect because the child was not a Bulgarian national and so the municipality did not need to issue a birth certificate. In case C-2/21, Polish authorities refuse to indicate both parents in the population register and provide an identification number, which is a prerequisite to obtain Polish nationality.
Read full response

Meeting with Malin Björk (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Apr 2023 · Migration

Meeting with Milan Brglez (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Apr 2023 · Legislative and other measures for preventing statelessness

Meeting with Frances Fitzgerald (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Apr 2023 · Statelessness

Meeting with Dietmar Köster (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Mar 2023 · Stateless refugees and people in the EU

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Feb 2023 · Statelessness

Meeting with Tineke Strik (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Feb 2023 · Statelessness

Meeting with Juan Fernando López Aguilar (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

8 Feb 2023 · Statelessness

Meeting with Tineke Strik (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Sept 2022 · Stateless refugees

Response to Recognition of parenthood

12 May 2021

Protecting the right to a nationality for children of same-sex couples in the EU: The enjoyment of LGBTIQ* rights varies across Europe, including the recognition of same-sex partnerships or marriages and the recognition of legal parentage between children and those who raise them as parents. As a result, rainbow families in Europe (families where a child has at least one parent who identifies themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex or queer) can face problems with recognition of civil status, birth registration and access to birth certificates, particularly when there is a cross-border element in the family. A birth certificate provides proof that the child has had their birth registered and is essential evidence of a child's family ties as well as their place of birth. These are key aspects of legal identity and can be critical to establishing the child’s nationality. When authorities of a Member State refuse to recognise parenthood as established in another Member State, this can contribute to difficulties establishing family ties, acquiring identity documents and evidencing the child’s nationality. This can leave children born in Europe stateless or at risk of statelessness. Children in this situation face severe obstacles to exercising their rights, including access to education, healthcare and social security. In the case of children born to EU citizens, lack of birth registration will also impede their ability to exercise their rights as EU citizens, including free movement rights. In many EU countries, same-sex couples married abroad and their children are denied access to civil registration in their country of nationality. Such cases have occurred across several countries in Europe (including Poland, Bulgaria, and Ireland) and reflect a wider concerning trend within the EU, as reported by other civil society networks and by ENS members. There are currently two cases pending before the CJEU on the non-recognition of parenthood and its adverse impact on the rights of the child. In both cases, the children concerned were at risk of statelessness when they were born, as their mothers’ countries of nationality had discriminatory birth registration laws or practices. The risk of statelessness in these cases is heightened because, contrary to international norms and good practice, few Member States have a full safeguard in law to ensure that children born in their territory who would otherwise be stateless can acquire the nationality of that Member State. Even where such a safeguard is in place, the child must demonstrate that they are unable to acquire any other nationality. This poses a challenge for the child to provide evidence that they are effectively prevented from acquiring another nationality, particularly when the authorities of another Member State do not explicitly refuse to acknowledge that the child is a national of that country, but still hinders access to birth registration certificates or identity documents. The EU has made important strides towards recognising and upholding the rights of children of rainbow families and their parents in recent years, not least with the recent introduction of the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy and the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. It is essential that the European Commission continues to implement measures to address free movement and cross border issues, through continued dialogue with the Member States, to remove obstacles concerning the recognition of birth certificates of children born to same-sex couples in another Member State and address any consequences for the child’s right to a nationality. The regulation of the recognition of parenthood between Member States is an essential step towards the reduction and prevention of childhood statelessness in Europe, and a Europe where no child is born stateless. Further info: https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/blog/protecting-right-nationality-children-same-sex-couples-eu-key-issue-cjeu-vma-v
Read full response

Meeting with Lena Düpont (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

12 Apr 2021 · Asylum and Migration