Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2014:287
Date: 2014-04-30
Language of the case: German
Subject matter: Association Agreement;External relations;Immigration and asylum policy;Free movement of workers;Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber), 10 July 2014 1. International agreements — EEC-Turkey Association Agreement — Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Standstill rule in Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol — Scope — Prohibition on Member States introducing new restrictions on the establishment, and correspondingly the residence, of Turkish nationals on national territory (Additional Protocol to the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement, Art. 41(1)) 2. International agreements — EEC-Turkey Association Agreement — Freedom of movement for persons — Freedom of establishment — Standstill rule in Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol — Scope — National legislation, introduced after the entry into force of that provision, requiring evidence of basic linguistic knowledge with regard to family members of Turkish nationals wishing to enter the national territory for the purposes of family reunification — Unlawful (Additional Protocol to the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement, Art. 41(1)) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 26-28) 2. Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol to the EEC-Turkey Association Agreement must be interpreted as meaning that the ‘standstill’ clause set out in that provision precludes a measure of national law, introduced after the entry into force of that additional protocol in the Member State concerned, which imposes on spouses of Turkish nationals residing in that Member State, who wish to enter the territory of that State for the purposes of family reunification, the condition that they demonstrate beforehand that they have acquired basic knowledge of the official language of that Member State. Such legislation, which makes family reunification more difficult by tightening the conditions of first admission to the territory of the Member State concerned by spouses of Turkish nationals in relation to those conditions applicable when the Additional Protocol entered into force, constitutes a new restriction, within the meaning of Article 41(1) of the Additional Protocol, on the exercise of the freedom of establishment by those Turkish nationals. Such a restriction is prohibited, unless it is justified by an overriding reason in the public interest, is suitable to achieve the legitimate objective pursued and does not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it. In that regard, on the assumption that the prevention of forced marriages and the promotion of integration, can constitute overriding reasons in the public interest, it remains the case that a national provision such as that at issue in the main proceedings goes beyond what is necessary in order to attain the objective pursued, in so far as the absence of evidence of sufficient linguistic knowledge automatically leads to the dismissal of the application for family reunification, without account being taken of the specific circumstances of each case. (see paras 36-39, operative part)