by the Senate with 49 votes against the bill, 8 in favor and 3 abstentions. Reform attempts in 2018–2019 In April 2018, Liviu Dragnea, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed his support for registered partnerships. On 9 October 2018, just days after the failed referendum to ban same-sex marriage in the Romanian Constitution, the Minister for European Affairs, Victor Negrescu, said that a bill allowing registered partnerships had been finalized and would be introduced in mid-October. However, in mid-October 2018, some media reported that the introduction of the bill had been postponed, and that the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Dragnea himself were no longer supportive. On 29 October, the Senate rejected a partnership bill introduced by Oana Bîzgan, an independent. On 31 October, a group of 42 deputies from different parties submitted another bill to the Chamber of Deputies. Two separate civil union bills were rejected by the Senate in March 2019. One bill would have recognised same-sex and opposite-sex couples "for the purpose of setting up a shared private life and household", while the other bill would have granted shared rights for couples entering a partnership and covered aspects such as succession rights, protection from domestic violence, the obligation to support an incapacitated partner, and fiscal facilities or social benefits granted by the state. 2018 European Court of Justice ruling In 2018, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in favour of a Romanian man, Adrian Coman, who sought to have his marriage to his American husband Clai Hamilton recognised. The couple had married in Belgium in 2010, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2003. European Union (EU) law permits a non-EU spouse of an EU citizen to join their spouse in the member state where the European national resides. However, Romanian authorities refused to issue a residence permit to Hamilton, arguing that he could not be recognised as Coman's spouse because Romanian law prohibits same-sex marriages. The couple filed suit, arguing that the refusal discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation, which is banned in Romania. The Romanian Constitutional Court heard the case in 2016 and later decided to consult the ECJ on the matter. The ECJ began examining the case in November 2017. In January 2018, Advocate General Melchior Wathelet advised the court to rule in favour of the couple: Opinions of the Advocate General are not legally binding but are normally