Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2001:458
Date: 2001-09-20
Language of the case: French
Court formation: Full Court
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Citizenship of the Union;Right of entry and residence;Social security for migrant workers;Free movement of workers;Anti-discrimination;Non-discrimination on grounds of nationality
Concepts: Citizenship of the Union;Legal certainty;Detailed rules governing the exercise of the right of entry and of residence;Effects of judgments providing an interpretation;Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Citizenship of the European Union — Treaty provisions — Persons covered — 
National of one Member State lawfully residing on the territory of another Member 
State — Whether included — Effect — Benefit of rights attaching to the status of 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-184/99 
citizen of the European Union — Whether a citizen of the European Union pursuing 
university studies in a State other than that of which he is a national may rely on the 
prohibition against all discrimination on the grounds of nationality 
(EC Treaty, Arts 6, 8 and 8a (now, after amendment, Arts 12 EC, 17 EC and 18 EC)) 
2. Freedom of movement for persons — Right of entry and residence for nationals of 
Member States — Directive 93/96 — Conditions for the issuing of a residence 
permit — National legislation requiring students who are nationals of Member States 
to have resources of a specific amount, to be evidenced by specific documents — Not 
permissible — Whether a host Member State is entitled to adopt measures to terminate 
the residence of a student who has availed himself of the social assistance system — 
Limits 
(Council Directive 93/96) 
3. Community law — Principles — Equal treatment — Discrimination on grounds of 
nationality — Social security benefit guaranteeing a minimum subsistence allow­
ance — National legislation making entitlement to the benefit subject to the condition 
of falling within the scope of Regulation No 1612/98 in the case of nationals of other 
Member States only — Not permissible 
(EC Treaty, Arts 6, 8 (now, after amendment, Arts 12 EC and 17 EC); Council 
Regulation No 1612/68) 
4. Preliminary rulings — Interpretation •— Effect of interpretative judgments ratione 
temporis — Retroactive effect — Limits imposed by the Court — Conditions — 
Significance for the Member State concerned of the financial consequences of the 
judgment — Not decisive 
(EC Treaty, Art 177 (now Art 234 EC) 
1. Union citizenship is destined to be the 
fundamental status of nationals of the 
Member States, enabling those who 
find themselves in the same situation to 
enjoy the same treatment in law irre­
spective of their nationality, subject to 
such exceptions as are expressly pro­
vided for. 
A citizen of the European Union, law­
fully resident in the territory of a host 
Member State, can rely on Article 6 of 
the Treaty (now, after amendment, 
Article 12 EC) in all situations which 
fall within the scope ratione materiae 
of Community law. 
Those situations include those invol­
ving the exercise of the fundamental 
freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty and 
those involving the exercise of the right 
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GRZELCZYK 
to move and reside freely in another 
Member State, as conferred by Arti­
cle 8a of the Treaty (now, after amend­
ment, Article 18 EC). 
The fact that a Union citizen pursues 
university studies in a Member State 
other than the State of which he is a 
national cannot, of itself, deprive him 
of the possibility of relying on the 
prohibition of all discrimination on 
grounds of nationality laid down in 
Article 6 of the Treaty. The Treaty on 
European Union has introduced citi­
zenship of the European Union into the 
Treaty and added to Title VIII of Part 
Three a new chapter 3 devoted to 
education and vocational training. 
There is nothing in the amended text 
of the Treaty to suggest that students 
who are citizens of the Union, when 
they move to another Member State to 
study there, lose the rights which the 
Treaty confers on citizens of the Union. 
Furthermore, the Council has also 
adopted Directive 93/96, which pro­
vides that the Member States must 
grant the right of residence to student 
nationals of a Member State who 
satisfy certain requirements. 
(see paras 31-33, 35-36) 
2. Article 1 of Directive 93/96 on the 
right of residence for students does 
not require, as a condition for obtain­
ing the right of residence, resources of 
any specific amount, nor that they be 
evidenced by specific documents. The 
article refers merely to a declaration, or 
such alternative means as are at least 
equivalent, which enables the student 
to satisfy the national authority con­
cerned that he has, for himself and, in 
relevant cases, for his spouse and 
dependent children, sufficient resources 
to avoid becoming a burden on the 
social assistance system of the host 
Member State during their stay. 
That interpretation does not, however, 
prevent a Member State from taking 
the view that a student who has 
recourse to social assistance no longer 
fulfils the conditions of his right of 
residence or from taking measures, 
within the limits imposed by Commu­
nity law, either to withdraw his resi­
dence permit or not to renew it. Never­
theless, in no case may such measures 
become the automatic consequence of 
a national of another Member State 
having recourse to the host Member 
State's social assistance system. 
Indeed, Directive 93/96, like Directives 
90/364 on the right of residence and 
90/365 on the right of residence for 
employees and self-employed persons 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-184/99 
who have ceased their occupational 
activity, accepts a certain degree of 
financial solidarity between nationals 
of a host Member State and nationals 
of other Member States, particularly if 
the difficulties which a beneficiary of 
the right of residence encounters are 
temporary. Furthermore, a student's 
financial position may change with 
the passage of time for reasons beyond 
his control. The truthfulness of a 
student's declaration is therefore to be 
assessed only as at the time when it is 
made. 
(see paras 40, 42-45) 
3. Articles 6 and 8 of the Treaty (now, 
after amendment, Articles 12 EC and 
17 EC) preclude entitlement to a non-
contributory social benefit, such as a 
minimum subsistence allowance, from 
being made conditional, in the case of 
nationals of Member States other than 
the host State where they are legally 
resident, on their falling within the 
scope of Regulation No 1612/68 on 
the freedom of movement for workers 
within the Community when no such 
condition applies to nationals of the 
host Member State. 
(see paras 46 and operative part) 
4 . An interpretation that the Court gives 
to a provision of Community law 
clarifies and defines its meaning and 
scope only as it should have been 
understood and applied from the time 
of its entry into force. It is only 
exceptionally that the Court may, in 
application of the general principle of 
legal certainty inherent in the Commu­
nity legal order, be moved to restrict 
the possibility for any person con­
cerned to rely upon a provision which 
it has interpreted with a view to calling 
into question legal relationships estab­
lished in good faith. The financial 
consequences which might ensue for a 
Member State from a preliminary rul­
ing do not in themselves justify limiting 
the temporal effect of the ruling. 
(see paras 50-52) 
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