Same-sex marriage in Belgium Same-sex marriage in Belgium On 1 June 2003, Belgium became the second country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands. "Statutory cohabitation", open to any two legally consenting cohabiting persons, is also possible since 1 January 2000. In 1995, a bill was introduced in Parliament to provide for a legal framework of "cohabitation agreements". It was mostly intended as a response to the lowering marriage rates, rather than giving rights to same-sex couples. In 1998, the bill was changed to "statutory cohabitation" (; ; ) and finally voted on. The Chamber of Representatives approved it by a
Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe recognise some form of civil union, namely Andorra, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland. Poland recognises cohabitation for very limited purposes. Armenia and Estonia recognise same-sex marriages performed in any foreign jurisdiction where they are permitted, and Slovakia recognises same-sex marriages performed within the EU and including an EU citizen. Of the countries that recognise and perform same-sex marriages some still allow couples to enter civil unions, e.g. Benelux countries, France and the United Kingdom, whereas Germany, Ireland and the Nordic countries have terminated their pre-marriage civil union legislation so that