The European Commission is initiating proceedings against Slovakia and its left-wing nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico over a controversial constitutional amendment.
The country is violating the principle that EU law takes precedence over national law, a commission spokesman said on Friday.
Slovakia now has two months to respond to a request from the European Commission.
The constitutional amendment in Slovakia, which has been in force since November 1, stipulates that decisions on “cultural and ethical issues” such as education, family life and language, will in future fall exclusively within the competence of national legislation.
Fico presented the amendment in January and it was passed by parliament at the end of September. “We regret that the concerns expressed by the Commission have not been taken into account by the Slovak authorities,” said the spokesman for the European Commission.
The prime minister had dismissed expected criticism from Brussels at the beginning of November, saying: “We look forward to this conflict. I cannot imagine that any international organization can dictate to us how many genders there are, who can marry and who cannot. This is a purely domestic matter. It is a very strong component of national identity.”
The constitutional amendment also provides for restrictions on the rights of transgender people and same-sex couples. Under the amendment, only two genders, male and female, will be recognized.
The amendment also stipulates that only married couples will be allowed to adopt children, which effectively excludes same-sex couples, as there is no marriage for all in Slovakia.
However, the EU proceedings that have now been initiated are limited to the provisions on the primacy of national law over European law.