Recognition of changes to gender identity without surgery

Question for written answer E-003494/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Paolo Inselvini (ECR), Giovanni Crosetto (ECR), Sergio Berlato (ECR), Carlo Fidanza (ECR), Elena Donazzan (ECR), Alessandro Ciriani (ECR), Mariateresa Vivaldini (ECR), Marco Squarta (ECR)

The Advocate-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Jean Richard de la Tour, recently published rather bizarre conclusions stipulating that Member States must recognise gender identity changes even in the absence of surgery or medical treatment.

Following his opinion, EU law would preclude any national legislation requiring a legal or health procedure to authorise the change of sex and name, making it mandatory for the Member States to record the new identity directly in birth certificates and official documents.

Such an approach raises important issues with regard to respect for national competences, legal certainty and security in identification systems. It also risks affecting access to dedicated facilities, demographic statistics and civil registry management, among other things.

In view of the above:

• 1.Does the Commission think that making it mandatory to recognise identity changes without any medical or legal requirement could undermine the legal certainty and reliability of official documents?
• 2.What impact does it think these conclusions will have on the exclusive competences of Member States in matters of civil status?
• 3.What tools can it put in place to counter this opinion?

Submitted: 9.9.2025