The Court of Justice of the European Union has found that economically inactive EU citizens who go to another Member State solely to obtain social assistance may be excluded from certain social benefits. In Dano v Jobcenter Leipzig, the applicant was granted child benefit but had been refused the basic provision payment of the ‘non-contributory social benefit’. The Court found that she did not qualify for protection under the EU citizens’ directive, and the German authorities were justified in refusing her payment.
The Court of Justice held that with regard to access to certain social benefits, nationals of EU States are to be treated equally to the nationals of the host Member State, but only if their residence complies with the conditions of the Directive on free movement of EU citizens.
Under the directive, Member States are not obliged to grant social assistance during the first three months of residence. Then, where the period of residence is longer than three months but less than five years, one of the conditions of the directive is that the right of residence depends on the economically inactive persons having sufficient resources to support themselves. A Member State must therefore have the possibility of refusing to grant social benefits to economically inactive Union citizens who exercise their right of free movement solely in order to obtain another Member State’s social assistance.
The regulations on the coordination of social security systems do not govern the conditions for the grant of special non-contributory cash benefits and it is for the national legislature to decide who qualifies for those benefits, and what conditions must be met to receive those benefits.
The Court was of the opinion that the applicant did not enter Germany with the purpose of seeking work, and that she did not have the resources to support herself. Thus she did not meet the conditions of the Directive, she did not have the right to reside as an EU citizen, and she cannot claim the principle of non-discrimination between host country nationals and EU citizens. The German authorities had the right to refuse her application for benefits by way of basic provision.
Click here to read the full judgment of Dano v Jobcenter Leipzig (Case C-333/13).
Click here to read the press release.