Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2094
Date: 2014-07-17
Language of the case: Italian
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Area of freedom, security and justice
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Italy

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 17 July 2014 1. Border controls, asylum and immigration — Immigration policy — Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents — Directive 2003/109 — Acquisition of long-term resident status — Condition — Family members of a long-term resident — Obligation to reside legally and continuously in the Member State concerned for five years prior to the submission of an application to acquire that status (Council Directive 2003/109, Arts 4(1) and 7(1)) 2. Border controls, asylum and immigration — Immigration policy — Status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents — Directive 2003/109 — Provisions of national legislation allowing family members to be issued with ‘long-term residents’ EU residence permits’ on terms more favourable than those laid down by that directive — Not permissible (Council Directive 2003/109, Arts 2(e) and 13) 1. Articles 4(1) and 7(1) of Directive 2003/109 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, as amended by Directive 2011/51, must be interpreted as meaning that family members, as defined in Article 2(e) of that directive, of a person who has already acquired long-term resident status may not be exempted from the condition laid down in Article 4(1) of that directive, under which, in order to obtain that status, a third-country national must have resided legally and continuously in the Member State concerned for five years immediately prior to the submission of the relevant application. The condition laid down in Article 4(1) of Directive 2003/109 requiring legal and continuous residence within the territory of the Member State concerned for five years prior to the submission of the relevant application is an essential condition for acquiring the long-term resident status provided for in that directive, with the result that a third-country national may apply to acquire that status, pursuant to Article 7(1) of that directive, only if he personally meets that condition. (see paras 34, 37, operative part 1) 2. Article 13 of Directive 2003/109 concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, as amended by Directive 2011/51, must be interpreted as not allowing a Member State to issue family members, as defined in Article 2(e) of that directive, with long-term residents’ EU residence permits on terms more favourable than those laid down by that directive. As can be seen in particular from Article 2(b) of Directive 2003/109, read in conjunction with Article 14(1) thereof, a long-term resident’s EU residence permit, in principle, grants its holder the right to reside in the territory of Member States — other than the one which granted him long-term residence status — for a period exceeding three months. Therefore, residence permits which, pursuant to Article 13 of Directive 2003/109, would be issued by a Member State to family members, as defined in Article 2(e) of that directive, on terms more favourable than those laid down by EU law, cannot in any circumstances be long-term residents’ EU residence permits within the meaning of that directive. (see paras 42-44, operative part 2)