Citizenship Flashcards
(5 cards)
Rottmann (2010), on acquisition of citizenship.
Austrian citizen moved to Germany, and acquired German citizen through naturalisation. As Austria does not allow dual citizenship, he lost Austrian citizenship. After a while, Germany found out he got his naturalisation in a fraudulent way, so the authorities decided to revoke his German citizenship, and he would be stateless. The Court held that, it is true that it is an exclusive competence of the MS to decide on conditions for acquisition or loss of citizenship, however, they shall follow and respect EU laws. And in this case, German authorities must make sure they are following the principle of proportionality and considering the consquences for the statless individual. The Court set limits on national discretion, because it affects EU citizenship.
Zhu Chen (2004) on EU citizenship
Chinese woman had her daughter in Ireland, then they moved to the UK. Her daughter acquired Irish citizenship because she was born in Ireland (ius soli). When in UK, mother applied for a residence permit, which was denied. She entered with an action, and the Court held that the daughter, as a Union national, was exercising the right of free movement since she has sufficient resources to stay in another MS. The mother has the right to reside in the UK, because her daughter is just a baby and need the support of the mother.
Zambrano (2009)
Colombian parents had thier residence denied many times by the Belgium government, but their children possess Belgium citizenship. The Court stated that the country could not refuse the right of residence and work to a third-country national whose child is a EU citizen minor. By doing so, the country would be preventing the minor EU child to enjoy their citizens’ rights.
Rendon Marín (2016)
Colombian father with 2 EU children got his resident permit in Spain denied due to his criminal record. In Spain there was a piece of legislation where it automatically denied residence permits in case of a criminal record. The Court held that the MS cannot automatically deny residence permit solely on criminal records, because it’s contrary to Art. 20 TFEU (right to move freely within MSs): a legal, financial or emotional dependency relationship is proven to exist between the children and the father
Lounes (2017)
Spanish woman lived in the UK for 5 years and was naturalised a British citizen. She then married and Algerian man who has been illegally living in the country for 4 years. When he asked for a residence permit, it was denied and he was served with a removal order from the country. The court held that he does not have the right of residence under art. 7 and 16 of Directive 2004/38 . However, under art 21 of TFEU, his wife has the right of contituting a family life with a TCN spouse, which means he could have a residence permit to fulfill this right.
