European Court of Justice, 08 March 2011, Case No.: C-34/09
According to Article 20(1) of the TFEU („Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union“), there is a European Union citizenship. According to this, anyone who holds the nationality of a Member State is a Union citizen. Union citizenship supplements national citizenship but does not replace it.
According to Article 20(2) TFEU, Union citizens have the rights and obligations provided for in the EU treaties. Under paragraph 2, they have, among other things:
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- the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States;
- the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament and in municipal elections in the Member State in which they reside, under the same conditions as nationals of that Member State;
- the right to protection by the diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State under the same conditions as nationals of that State, in the territory of a third country where the Member State of which they are nationals is not represented;
- the right to petition the European Parliament and to apply to the European Ombudsman, as well as the right to address the institutions and advisory bodies of the Union in one of the languages of the Treaties and to receive a reply in the same language.
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This provision was the subject of the above-mentioned judicial proceeding of the European Court of Justice.
This affected the third-country national couple Zambrano (Colombia), who were granted asylum in Belgium.
The case involved the third-country nationals Zambrano (from Colombia), who were granted asylum in Belgium. During their stay in Belgium, the couple had two children who, under local laws, became Belgian citizens by birth.
The court had to decide whether the third-country national parents were entitled to a right of residence and work in Belgium based on their children’s Union citizenship.
Employment without a Work Permit in Belgium
During his stay in Belgium, the father entered into a permanent employment contract with a Belgian company, despite lacking a work permit. Through this employment, the family’s livelihood was secured. The legal social security contributions were duly withheld, and the corresponding employer contributions were paid on time.
Rejection of Unemployment Benefits and Residence Permit
When the father became unemployed, he applied for unemployment benefits, but these were denied by the Belgian authorities on the grounds that he did not have a work permit. Furthermore, Mr. and Mrs. Zambrano, as relatives of a Belgian national (their child), applied for a residence permit in Belgium. This application was also rejected by the Belgian authorities, who argued that the couple had deliberately failed to apply for Colombian nationality for their children in Colombia.
Legal Action and Referral to the ECJ
Mr. Zambrano filed a lawsuit against both rejections, arguing that as an ascending relative of a minor Belgian child, he had the right to reside and work in Belgium. The Belgian court subsequently referred the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling, asking whether the couple had the right to reside and work in Belgium. It was particularly important to determine whether Union law applied, even though the Belgian children had never exercised their right to freedom of movement within the EU Member States.
Decision of the European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice ruled that EU citizen status is the fundamental status of nationals of EU Member States. Article 20 TFEU fundamentally precludes national measures that result in EU citizens being denied the effective enjoyment of the core of their rights. Such a national measure exists if a person from a third country who has minor children in an EU Member State who belong to that Member State and are dependent on them is denied residence and a work permit. Article 20 TFEU therefore confers an independent right of residence based on EU citizen status.
Source: European Court of Justice
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