Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 10 September 2019 (request for a preliminary ruling from the High Court (Ireland) — Ireland) — Nalini Chenchooliah v Minister for Justice and Equality
(Case C-94/18) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Citizenship of the Union — Article 21 TFEU — Right of Union citizens and their family members to move and reside freely in the territory of a Member State — Directive 2004/38/EC — Article 3(1) and Articles 15, 27, 28, 30 and 31 — Definition of ‘beneficiary’ — Third-country national, the spouse of a Union citizen who has exercised his right to freedom of movement — Return of the Union citizen to the Member State of which he is a national, where he is serving a prison sentence — Requirements imposed on the host Member State under Directive 2004/38/EC when making a decision to remove such a third-country national)
Language of the case: English
Referring court
High Court (Ireland)
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Nalini Chenchooliah
Defendant: Minister for Justice and Equality
Operative part of the judgment
Article 15 of Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC, is to be interpreted as being applicable to a decision to expel a third-country national on the ground that that person no longer has a right of residence under the directive in a situation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, where the third-country national concerned married a Union citizen at a time when that citizen was exercising his right to freedom of movement by moving to and residing with that third-country national in the host Member State and, subsequently, the Union citizen returned to the Member State of which he is a national. It follows that the relevant safeguards laid down in Articles 30 and 31 of Directive 2004/38 are applicable when such an expulsion decision is adopted and it is not possible, under any circumstances, for such a decision to impose a ban on entry into the territory.
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1 OJ C 152, 30.4.2018.