The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently given a number of significant rulings in relation to the rights of residence of third-country nationals in the context of their family relationships with EU citizens.
The first of these cases, O and B, asked the ECJ whether there was an automatic residence right for third country nationals married to an EU citizen. O was a Nigerian citizen who married a Netherlands national. They both moved to Spain, but two months later O moved back to the Netherlands because she could not find work. The couple argued against the rejection of O’s residence document on the basis that they often spent holidays together in Spain. B was a Moroccan national who married a Netherlands national. He had previously been declared to be undesirable in the Netherlands on the basis of a previous conviction. He requested to have this declaration lifted in order to receive residence documents, and this was refused.
The ECJ held that EU law “does not establish a derived right of residence for third-country nationals who are family members of a Union citizen in the Member State of which that citizen is a national”.
Click here to read the full judgment in O and B.
The second case before the ECJ, S and G, also concerned residence rights of third-country nationals. S was a Ukrainian national who was the prime carer of her husband’s son. Her husband is a Netherlands national who works in Belgium. S’s application for a residence document was rejected by the Netherlands. G was a Peruvian national who was married to a Netherlands national and was the prime carer of her husband’s two children. Her husband travels daily to Belgium for his work. G’s residence request in the Netherlands was also rejected.
The court interestingly held in both of these cases that third county nationals who are family members of Union citizen have a derived right of residence in the Member State of which that citizen is a national, where the EU citizen resides in that Member State but regularly travels to another Member State as a worker. This derived right of residence is granted where a refusal of such a right would dissuade the EU citizen from exercising his EU rights as a worker.
Click here to read the full judgment in S and G.
Click here to read a report on the cases in the Irish Times.
The PILA Bulletin recently reported on the new Directive adopted by the EU Council to protect EU citizen workers from discrimination when working in another Member State. Click here to read the relevant article.