E-23/24 AO & IM
Klik hier voor het dossier van het EVA-hof (voor zover beschikbaar).
Deadlines: Motivation ministry: 22 October 2024 Written observations: 4 December 2024
Keywords: right of residence, sufficient resources
Subject: - Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States: Article 7(1)(b).
Facts of the case: The Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board (hereafter: Board) is a politically independent administrative body that deals with complaints lodged under the Immigration Act and the Citizenship Act. The case before the Board which led to the request for an advisory opinion concerns two persons: ‘AO’ and ‘IM’, who are married and have a child together. AO is a Polish national and IM is an Egyptian national. Both AO and IM have a pending appeal case before the Board, concerning the rejection of an application for a permanent residence certificate in Norway. AO’s permanent residence was denied because she was registered to be without income in the period September 2017 to October 2018, whilst she was receiving unemployment benefits from October 2018 to August 2019. IM’s application was rejected because his right was a derivative of AO’s right of residence.
The question is whether the parties have a right of permanent residence under Article 7(1)(b) of Directive 2004/38. This Article provides for the right of residence for EEA nationals having ‘sufficient resources for themselves and their family members’ not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host State during their period of residence and have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host State. The Board request for an advisory opinion because it wants clarification on what the requirement of ‘sufficient resources for themselves and their family members’ exactly entails, and whether it makes a difference if AO would have had an income, rather than just the non-EEA national (as in the present case). The Board wants to know to which extent the income/resources of the third-country national can be taken into account for the assessment of the ‘sufficient resources’ of the EEA national.
Request for an advisory opinion: a. To what extent can a third-country national’s income/resources form part of the assessment of whether the EEA national has “sufficient resources” for himself or herself and his or her family members: see Article 7(1)(b) of Directive 2004/38/EC? b. If the answer to question a entails that the third-country national’s resources cannot form the entire basis in order for the EEA national to have “sufficient resources”, is it then required that the EEA national make an “own contribution” on a continuous basis in order for the requirement of “sufficient resources” to be fulfilled, or can the EEA national’s contribution be limited to a shorter period, for example that the EEA national has gainful employment for one year, subsequently to which the parties rely on the third-country national’s income during the following four years?
Cited (recent) case-law: C-218/14; C 200/02; C 86/12.
Policy Area: AenM
