Facilitation of marriage for same-sex couples was debated by the Czech parliament –which remains divided on the issue – on Thursday, as the country still belongs to a group of Eastern EU countries which legally only recognises registered partnerships or other types of civil unions.
While conservative parties are against the enactment, others are open to change.
Two contradictory drafts were approved in the first reading during Thursday’s debate. The first one paves the road to the enactment of marriage for same-sex couples. The second draft enshrines the protection of marriage as a union between a man and woman in the Czech constitution.
Both proposals will now be further discussed in the Czech Parliament’s committees.
According to Chamber of Deputies Speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová (TOP 09, EPP), there could be a possible compromise – same-sex couples could have the same rights as heterosexual marriages, but the institution’s name would be different.
“It may happen that we won’t call it marriage after all,” Pekarová Adamová said during a heated debate on Thursday.
The majority of EU countries currently legally recognise same-sex marriages with Estonia becoming the most recent to change its laws. Czechia currently allows only a registered partnership which is legally inferior, a similar approach was also taken by Croatia, Hungary and Latvia.
In several countries, marriage is defined as a union solely between a man and woman – namely in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia.
(Aneta Zachová | EURACTIV.cz)
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