Senate Speaker Tariceanu: I am in favor of the idea of a legislation regarding the civil partnership or civil union

Senate President Calin Popescu-Tariceanu declared that the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) supports the draft law regarding civil partnership in Romania, tabled on Wednesday in Parliament, but mentioned that the vote will also depend on this initiative’s final form. “There are a few of my colleagues who will support this initiative. Just as I said some time ago, we remain consistent in this regard. My colleagues do not support this in a personal capacity, they do so in the name of ALDE. So you can consider that ALDE supports it. (…) When they come to vote, we will see which form it will take, because a proposal goes through the committees, it is then discussed in the plenary sitting and after that a vote is cast. I cannot say now. In principle, I am in favor of the idea of a legislation regarding the civil partnership or civil union,” Tariceanu said in Parliament, after the meeting of ALDE’s Executive Bureau. The draft law regarding civil partnership in Romania was lodged on Wednesday in Parliament, announced the independent deputy Adrian Dohotaru, co-initiator alongside dozens of MPs from PSD (Social Democratic Party), USR (Save Romania Union), PNL (National Liberal Party) and UDMR (Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania). “The civil partnerships recognizes the right to a family life for both heterosexual couples, as well as for LGBTQ couples. (…) The civil partnership offers common rights to couples that choose to live together, under this form, regulating aspects such as: succession rights, sanctioning domestic violence, obligation of supporting the partner who is incapacitated, assets procedure, recognizing fiscal facilities or social benefits given by the state,” the press release reads. According to the draft law, the terms for concluding a civil partnership are: the partners must be 18; at least one of the partners has to be a Romanian citizen or foreign or stateless citizen residing in Romania for at least 1 year; none of the partners are married or registered as a civil partner.. Each partner keeps their name he/she had before concluding the civil partnership, the draft law also mentions. In terms of inheritance, the surviving partner is assimilated to the surviving spouse, with the exception of the case when the partners expressly renounce in the declaration of civil partnership, to the mutual heirship vocation. Partners are assimilated to the spouses in the relationships that occur in justice, on any matter. Furthermore, they are assimilated to spouses in establishing incompatibility with regard to the appointment in certain position and also in the matter of conflict of interest. The partner benefits from 3 days paid vacation in the event of death or a serious illness of the other partner. The employer is obligated to keep in mind when scheduling vacation times if the two partners work in the same place. Moreover, the partners from same gender civil partnerships cannot adopt.