Same-sex marriage in Belgium 14 December and published on 23 December 1999 made the Act of statutory cohabitation go into effect on 1 January 2000. During 1999, the PS (French-speaking Social Democrats) and Ecolo (French-speaking Greens) also announced they agreed to legalise same-sex marriage. At that point, the only remaining party in Government that opposed same-sex marriage was the French-speaking liberal PRL (later merged into MR), mainly because it was opposed to adoption rights for same-sex couples. PRL agreed not to block same-sex marriage if adoption rights are excluded. As the first same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was performed on 1 April 2001, the
Recognition of same-sex unions in Estonia Recognition of same-sex unions in Estonia Estonia has recognised same-sex unions since January 1, 2016 by allowing same-sex couples to sign a cohabitation agreement (), the first ex-Soviet state to do so. In addition, following a December 2016 court ruling, same-sex marriages performed abroad are recognised in Estonia. In November 2017, the Tallinn Circuit Court ruled that this recognition did not necessarily confer residency rights. However, in September 2018, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice, another Estonian court ruled that it does. In December 2005, the launch of a new family law bill by the Estonian Ministry