CURIA - Documents 7 of 13 https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document_print.jsf?mode=lst&p... that Member State has not provided for the possibility of mentioning on a birth certificate two parents of the same sex for that child. The referring court notes, in that regard, that the legal provisions governing that child’s parentage are of fundamental importance in the Bulgarian constitutional tradition and in the Bulgarian legal literature on family and inheritance law, both from a purely legal perspective and from the point of view of values, given the current stage of development of society in Bulgaria. 29 Therefore, the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad (Administrative Court of the City of Sofia) considers that it is necessary to strike a balance between, on the one hand, the constitutional and national identity of the Republic of Bulgaria and, on the other hand, the interests of the child, and in particular the child’s right to a private life and to free movement. 30 The referring court is uncertain whether, in the present case, such a balance could be achieved by applying the principle of proportionality and, in particular, whether mentioning under the heading ‘Mother’ the name of one of the two mothers included on the birth certificate drawn up by the Spanish authorities – who may be either the biological mother of the child or the person who became the child’s mother by way of another procedure, such as adoption, for example – without completing the ‘Father’ section would constitute an appropriate balance between those different legitimate interests. It points out that while such a solution could also create certain difficulties due to possible differences between the birth certificate drawn up by the Bulgarian authorities and that drawn up by the Spanish authorities, it would allow a birth certificate to be issued by the Bulgarian authorities, thus avoiding, or at least reducing, any obstacles to the free movement of the child concerned. The referring court queries, however, whether that solution would be compatible with the child’s right to a private and family life affirmed in Article 7 of the Charter. 31 Finally, should the Court of Justice find that EU law requires both mothers of the child concerned to be mentioned on the birth certificate drawn up by the Bulgarian authorities, the referring court asks about the arrangements for implementing that requirement, since the referring court cannot replace the model birth certificate, which is one of the model civil status documents applicable at a national level. 32 In those circumstances, the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad (Administrative Court of the City of Sofia) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling: ‘(1) Must Article 20 TFEU and Article 21 TFEU and Articles 7, 24 and 45 of the [Charter] be interpreted as meaning that the Bulgarian administrative authorities to which an application for a document certifying the birth of a child of Bulgarian nationality in another Member State of the [European Union] was submitted, which had been certified by way of a Spanish birth certificate in which two persons of the female sex are registered as mothers without specifying whether one of them, and if so, which of them, is the child’s biological mother, are not permitted to refuse to issue a Bulgarian birth certificate on the grounds that the applicant refuses to state which of them is the child’s biological mother? (2) Must Article 4(2) TEU and Article 9 of the [Charter] be interpreted as meaning that respect for the national identity and constitutional identity of the Member States of the European Union means that those Member States have a broad discretion as regards the rules for establishing parentage? Specifically: Must Article 4(2) TEU be interpreted as allowing Member States to request information on the biological parentage of the child? Must Article 4(2) TEU in conjunction with Article 7 and Article 24(2) of the Charter be interpreted as meaning that it is essential to strike a balance of interests between, on the one hand, 25/08/2022, 16:46