The valuable NCPA Policy Digest passes along this observation:

In France, growing numbers of couples are choosing to raise children, buy homes and build family lives without religious or civil approval of their partnerships, says the Washington Post.

Do they mean civil approval or approval by the state? Later in the cllipping this appears:

The result is massive migration to urban areas, where young adults are more independent from their families; and a society that has become not only tolerant but supportive of personal choice in lifestyles.

If "society" is both tolerant and supportive of these unions, doesn't this constitute civil approval?