Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2017:949
Date: 2017-12-07
Language of the case: Spanish
Court formation: Eighth Chamber
Subject matter: Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Spain

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Eighth Chamber), 7 December 2017 1. Questions referred for a preliminary ruling — Admissibility — Limits — Clearly irrelevant questions and hypothetical questions put in a context not permitting a useful answer — No such questions (Art. 267 TFEU) 2. Border controls, asylum and immigration — Immigration policy — Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents — Directive 2003/109 — Protection against expulsion — Matters to be taken into consideration — National legislation which precludes, as interpreted by some national courts, those matters from being taken into account before the adoption of a decision to expel resulting from a criminal conviction — Not permissible (Council Directive 2003/109, Art. 12) 1. See the text of the decision. (see paras 19-21) 2. Article 12 of Council Directive 2003/109/EC of 25 November 2003 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State which, as interpreted by some of the courts of that Member State, does not provide for the application of the requirements of protection against the expulsion of a third-country national who is a long-term resident to all administrative expulsion decisions, regardless of the legal nature of that measure or of the detailed rules governing it. It should be noted that, according to the case-law of the Court, the principal purpose of Directive 2003/109 is the integration of third-country nationals who are settled on a long-term basis in the Member States (judgments of 26 April 2012, Commission v Netherlands, C‑508/10, EU:C:2012:243, paragraph 66, and of 2 September 2015, CGIL and INCA, C‑309/14, EU:C:2015:523, paragraph 21). Furthermore, Article 12(3) of that directive states that, before taking a decision to expel a third-country national who is a long-term resident, Member States are to have regard to the duration of residence in their territory, the age of the person concerned, the consequences for the person concerned and family members and links with the country of residence or absence of links with the country of origin. It is therefore irrelevant whether such a measure has been delivered in the form of an administrative penalty or whether it is the result of a criminal conviction. Moreover, the Court has already pointed out in its judgment of 8 December 2011, Ziebell (C‑371/08, EU:C:2011:809, paragraphs 82 and 83) that the adoption of such a measure may not be ordered automatically following a criminal conviction, but rather requires a case-by-case assessment which must, in particular, have regard to the elements mentioned in Article 12(3) of Directive 2003/109. Consequently, a decision to expel may not be adopted against a third-country national who is a long-term resident for the sole reason that he or she has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment of more than one year in duration. (see paras 23, 26-29, operative part)