WRITTEN QUESTION E-0155/02

by Wilhelm Piecyk (PSE) to the Commission

(31 January 2002)

Subject: Conduct of Spanish authorities when issuing residence papers for EU citizens

In April 2001 a citizen of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany applied to the Spanish department responsible for foreign nationals in Valencia for a Tarjeta de Residente Comunitario, the residence papers necessary for a long-term stay in Spain.

After hearing nothing from the authority responsible, she inquired again in person in August 2001 as to whether her application had been dealt with, and discovered that it had been mislaid. According to the authority, however, it would be processed as quickly as possible. After two months she had still heard nothing from the department concerned, and so she called at the office again. The processed application was available, but the Tarjeta had to be collected at another counter, at which the queue was so long that it reached way outside the building. Apparently even after queuing up early in the morning before the counter opened, it was impossible to get inside the building before they closed, let alone to reach the counter.

The only alternative was to start queuing early in the morning for the next day and sleep out in the open, which is what those concerned did.

The Commission:

1. Is it aware of any similar cases in Spain or in other Member States?

2. Does it believe that such situations are compatible with basic internal market freedoms and, in particular, with European Union citizenship?

3. Is it possible for those affected in such cases to take legal action, and does the Commission intend to take measures to abolish these bureaucratic obstacles?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(11 March 2002)

1. The Commission has had many complaints from EU citizens about the bureaucratic problems and administrative delays they encounter in the Member States in the process of exercising their right to free movement within the EU.

2. The organisation of national public services is a matter for the Member States; the Commission cannot intervene except where Member States fail to fulfil their obligations under Community law. It should be noted that, in relation to the case raised by the Honourable Member, Article 5 of Council Directive 64/221/EEC of 25 February 1964 on the co-ordination of special measures concerning the movement and residence of foreign nationals which are justified on grounds of public policy, public security or public health(1) states that a decision to grant or to refuse a first residence permit shall be taken as soon as possible and in any event not later than six months from the date of application for the permit.

3. In the case mentioned by the Honourable Member, there is, in principle, no means of redress open to EU citizens. The Commission, in its proposal for a Parliament and Council Directive on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States(2), which is currently being discussed in the Council, has proposed measures which would make it easier for EU citizens to exercise their right to free movement within the Union.

(1) OJ B 56, 4.4.1964.

(2) OJ C 270, 25.9.2001.