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parents in Spain. The daughter’s birth certificate, issued by the Spanish authorities, refers to V.M.A. as
‘Mother A’ and to K.D.K. as ‘Mother’ of the child.
20
On 29 January 2020, V.М.А. applied to the Sofia municipality for a birth certificate for S.D.K.A. to be
issued to her, the certificate being necessary, inter alia, for the issue of a Bulgarian identity document.
In support of her application, V.М.А. submitted a legalised and certified translation into Bulgarian of
the extract from the civil register of Barcelona (Spain) relating to the birth certificate of S.D.K.A.
21
By letter of 7 February 2020, the Sofia municipality instructed V.M.A. to provide, within seven days,
evidence of the parentage of S.D.K.A. with respect to the identity of her biological mother. The
municipality stated in that regard that the model birth certificate which is among the model civil status
documents applicable at a national level has only one box for the ‘mother’ and another for the ‘father’,
and that only one name may appear in each box.
22
On 18 February 2020, V.М.А. replied to the Sofia municipality that, under the Bulgarian legislation in
force, she was not required to provide the information requested.
23
By decision of 5 March 2020, the Sofia municipality therefore refused V.M.A.’s application for a birth
certificate to be issued for S.D.K.A. The reasons given for that refusal decision were the lack of
information concerning the identity of the child’s biological mother and the fact that a reference to two
female parents on a birth certificate was contrary to the public policy of the Republic of Bulgaria,
which does not permit marriage between two persons of the same sex.
24
V.M.A. brought an action against that refusal decision before the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad
(Administrative Court of the City of Sofia, Bulgaria), the referring court.
25
That court states that, under Article 25(1) of the Bulgarian Constitution and Article 8 of the Law on
Bulgarian nationality, S.D.K.A. has Bulgarian nationality notwithstanding the fact that, to date, she
does not have a birth certificate issued by the Bulgarian authorities. The authorities’ refusal to issue
such a certificate to her does not mean that she has been denied Bulgarian nationality.
26
The referring court has doubts, however, as to whether the refusal by the Bulgarian authorities to
register the birth of a Bulgarian national which occurred in another Member State and has been attested
by a birth certificate that mentions two mothers and was issued by the competent authorities of the
latter Member State infringes the rights conferred on such a national in Articles 20 and 21 TFEU and
Articles 7, 24 and 45 of the Charter. The Bulgarian authorities’ refusal to issue a birth certificate –
albeit that it would have no legal effect on the Bulgarian nationality of the child concerned and
consequently on that child’s Union citizenship – is liable to make it more difficult for a Bulgarian
identity document to be issued and, therefore, to hinder that child’s exercise of the right of free
movement and thus full enjoyment of her rights as a Union citizen.
27
Moreover, since the other mother of S.D.K.A., K.D.K., is a United Kingdom national, the referring
court is uncertain whether the legal consequences arising from the Agreement on the withdrawal of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European
Atomic Energy Community (OJ 2020 L 29, p. 7, ‘the Withdrawal Agreement’), and in particular the
fact that that child can no longer enjoy the status of Union citizen by virtue of K.D.K.’s nationality, are
relevant to the assessment of that question.
28
Furthermore, the Administrativen sad Sofia-grad (Administrative Court of the City of Sofia) queries
whether the obligation to which the Bulgarian authorities may be subject, when drawing up a birth
certificate, to refer in that document to two mothers as being the parents of the child concerned, is liable
to have an adverse effect on public policy and the national identity of the Republic of Bulgaria, since
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