Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2005:375
Date: 2005-06-09
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Citizenship of the Union;Free movement of workers;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment Freedom of movement for persons — Workers — Equal treatment — Tideover allowances for young people seeking their first employment — Grant conditional on completion of secondary education in the Member State concerned — Not permissible — Justification – None (Art. 39 EC) It is contrary to Article 39 EC for a Member State to refuse to grant a tideover allowance to a national of another Member State seeking his first employment who is not the dependent child of a migrant worker residing in the Member State granting the allowance, on the sole ground that he completed his secondary education in another Member State. Inasmuch as it links the grant of the allowance to the requirement that the applicant has obtained the required diploma in that Member State, this condition is likely to be met more easily by national citizens and therefore risks placing nationals of other Member States at a disadvantage. Such a difference in treatment can be justified only if it is based on objective considerations which are independent of the nationality of the persons concerned and proportionate to the aim legitimately pursued by the national law. In this regard, while it is legitimate for the national legislature to wish to ensure that there is a real link between the applicant for that allowance and the geographic employment market concerned, a single condition concerning the place where the diploma of completion of secondary education was obtained is too general and exclusive in nature and goes beyond what is necessary to attain the objective pursued. (see paras 28-31, 38, operative part)