Civil unions in Italia, ten years since the Cirinnà law

Going back to the data on civil unions, the territorial distribution remains strongly uneven, with a greater incidence in metropolitan areas, while in terms of composition, the prevalence of unions between men is confirmed, amounting to about 55% of the total in 2024. On the whole, ten years after its introduction, civil unions appear as a legal institution fully integrated into the legal system, but numerically contained and now entering a phase of structural balance, with no further signs of significant growth in the short term.

At the European level, the recognition of same-sex marriage shows a progressive but uneven regulatory evolution. The model is now fully established in Northern European countries, with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden among the first to have introduced full marriage equality. In Western and Central Europe, legalisation is equally widespread, with Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands having progressively extended equal marriage over the last two decades. In Southern Europe, the process has followed a more recent but now stable trajectory, with Spain, Portugal, Greece and Malta among the countries that have adopted full equal marriage. To these are added further States such as Austria, Estonia and Slovenia, which complete a European picture characterised by a widespread diffusion of equal marriage, although with still significant differences between the various areas of the continent.

The jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union marked a further step forward on the recognition of same-sex unions in cross-border cases. In a 2025 judgment, the Court ruled that Member States are obliged to recognise the essential legal effects of a same-sex marriage validly contracted in another EU country, in particular for the purposes of exercising freedom of movement and protecting family life. The principle does not, however, introduce a generalised obligation of automatic transcription in national registers, nor does it require individual States to amend their national legislation on marriage, which remains a national competence. The European legal framework is thus confirmed as being based on a distinction between the recognition of legal effects for mobile citizens within the EU and the autonomy of national systems in regulating marriage.

There is no shortage of bills in the Italia Parliament proposals that go in the direction of egalitarian marriage, but at the moment the issue does not seem to be on the political agenda. 'I strongly supported the civil unions law and helped follow its parliamentary process from the government. We can certainly say that it has been a success: thanks to it and to Matteo Renzi, who placed his trust on this law, same-sex unions have become a normal and recognised fact. After 10 long years, the time is ripe,' adds Scalfarotto, 'to take the next step: to arrive at egalitarian marriage, that is, identical rules for all couples, regardless of gender. I presented a bill three years ago in the Senate, which I want to relaunch today. Egalitarian marriage is present in 22 European countries, Greece and Slovenia have also recently adopted it, and the Court of Justice of the Union has ruled that all countries where there is still no law must recognise same-sex marriages legally contracted in another Member State. Italia is the only Western European country and the only founding country of the Union where couples of two men or two women are forbidden to marry. It is time to eliminate this discrimination'.

Of the same opinion is Alessandro Zan, responsible for rights in the PD secretariat and MEP: "the law on civil unions is 'an important civilisation law that has allowed us to take a step forward in the path of civil rights in our country. But today it is no longer enough. It is important to go further: to approve egalitarian marriage and reform family law, fully recognising the families that already exist. We need to guarantee adoption to single persons and same-sex couples and allow access to medically assisted procreation. There is a bill on this that I signed with Elly Schlein. It is from there that we want to start again in the next legislature, to complete a path of equality that can no longer be postponed'.

And it is not only a law on equal marriages that is lacking, Parliament has not yet passed a law against homotransfobia: "On 11 May 2016, it was thrilling as President of Montecitorio to pronounce that 'the Chamber approves' which gave the final go-ahead to the Cirinnà law: civil unions between persons of the same sex were, at last, a reality. A law that brought Italy closer to the most advanced countries in terms of civil rights but, above all, gave an answer that had been awaited for decades by lgbtqia+ people who were asking and continue to ask for equality and parity. Ten years later, we know that that was only the first step and that many are still waiting for us: egalitarian marriage, recognition of parenthood at birth, a law against homolesbobitransphobic hatred, a law for the self-determination of trans and non-binary people. The road is long and we want to travel it all,' emphasises Laura Boldrini, PD deputy and president of the House Standing Committee on Human Rights in the World.