“National courts are required to enforce the treaties that their member states have ratified, and thus the laws enacted under them, even if doing so requires them to ignore conflicting national law, and (within limits) even constitutional provisions.”

Membership in the EU should never be granted to any nation that has not altered all of its statute laws in a manner that grants all GLBT citizens the same rights as heterosexuals – without equivocation.

* Requirements for membership are as follows: To join the EU, a country must meet the Copenhagen criteria, defined at the 1993 Copenhagen European Council. These require a stable democracy which respects human rights and the rule of law; a functioning market economy capable of competition within the EU; and the acceptance of the obligations of membership, including EU law.

Unfortunately, if that were strictly enforced, then Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands and, soon, Norway would be the only ones granted full membership because the other European countries (including England, France and Germany) still have a South African-like apartheid system in place regarding the official status and the recognition of relationship rights of their GLBT citizens.

Regardless, the EU is still light-years ahead of the United States of America in terms of overall respect for human rights.

~ Bud Evans

* Supporting EU References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU