Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.

EUobserver maintains an editorial partnership with Europod to jointly publish the podcast series “Briefed” presented by Léa Marchal. The podcast appears on all major platforms.

Find the full transcript below:

In March, the EU’s highest court decided in support of a Bulgarian transgender woman seeking to update the gender and name listed in her civil registry.

Observers describe this as a pivotal ruling for trans rights across Europe.

Yet what defines the actual status of transgender rights in Europe?

Hi, I’m Léa, and this is Briefed, your daily European podcast.

The matter is now referred to as the Shipova case. On 12 March, a Bulgarian transgender woman who had established her life in Italy secured an important legal success.

Following her gender transition in Italy, she requested that Bulgarian officials update the gender and name in the national civil registry to align with her gender identity.

Bulgarian courts declined the request since the registry continued to reflect the sex assigned at birth.

The matter reached the Court of Justice of the European Union, resulting in this outcome: EU judges determined that member states must permit updates to civil records on gender for citizens residing elsewhere in the bloc.

According to the judges, any mismatch between a person’s gender identity and their official documents restricts freedom of movement across the continent and leads to routine practical issues.

Consequently, EU member states should establish clear, accessible and effective processes for the legal recognition of an individual’s gender identity.

Legal experts and rights supporters indicate the decision may carry wide effects for transgender rights throughout the EU.

But does it form part of wider acceptance of transgender rights in the EU?

Yes and no.

Some modest advances have occurred.

In February, LGBTQ supporters welcomed the European Parliament’s adoption of non-binding guidance highlighting the need for full recognition of trans women as women.

The document gained backing from all left-leaning groups and also from much of the conservative European People’s Party, to the frustration of far-right parties that tried without success to block it.

Yet as trans people gradually secure more rights, they encounter rising transphobic language from the far right within European bodies.

Just months earlier, MCC Brussels, a think tank tied to the prior Hungarian government, joined in hosting a discussion called “The Trans Ideology Threat.”

Within the European Parliament, far-right MEPs often use their speaking slots to depict transgender people as dangers to women’s rights and society at large.

And beyond the EU institutions, how advanced is the continent on trans rights?

Transgender people throughout Europe encounter very different legal situations.

Legal gender recognition rests on self-determination in just 12 European countries. These lie mostly in Northern and Western Europe, aside from Italy and the Netherlands.

Non-binary identities receive recognition solely in Germany, Malta and Iceland.

By contrast, Bulgaria and Hungary ban legal gender recognition entirely, so individuals cannot alter the gender marker on their official documents.

The Rainbow Map each year evaluates European countries on their legal and policy approaches to LGBTI rights. Romania ranks lowest in the EU, followed by Poland and Bulgaria. Malta leads, followed since 2025 by Belgium and Denmark.

In brief, far-right groups have turned transgender rights into a political issue, and even in nations with stronger legal protections, anti-LGBTQ violence continues and sometimes grows.

Nevertheless, on a continent governed by the rule of law, the Shipova case stands as a legal foundation that may support a more inclusive future for transgender rights.