During the recent session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg a debate was held on the issues facing same sex couples in registered partnerships or marriages and the lack of transferability of these agreements when couples travel between member states.

The debate can be viewed here with speeches from members both for and against European agreements which would assist couples gain recognition of their relationships when they move between member states. The EU Commission do not appear to have any plans on introducing directives enforcing recognition across member states despite the efforts of MEP’s.

No speeches from Irish MEP’s (though Sean Kelly MEP was around that evening as I watched the session live and he was busy speaking on the issues of freedom of the press and the rights of older people in matters concerning long term care). However there was an interesting debate with openly LGBT MEP’s and their supporters questioning the fears of Polish and Italian members amongst others who intimated that if the EU required member states to recognise all relationships (eg registered partnerships in Sweden being legally recognised in Bulgaria) that the sky would fall in.

If you are interested in the work of the European Parliament on LGBT rights you should read about the work of the LGBT Intergroup which is a grouping of 90 MEP’s from over 20 member states who are committed to the issues. There is a new podcast available which discusses the group and it’s work and the latest issues in the Parliament. The Irish members are Prionsias de Rossa and Nessa Childers. Maybe the next time you bump into the other ten MEP’s you can ask why they are not members?