Case C-162/09: Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 7 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) (United Kingdom)) — Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Taous Lassal (Reference for preliminary ruling — Freedom of movement for persons — Directive 2004/38/EC — Article 16 — Right of permanent residence — Temporal application — Periods completed before the date of transposition)
Date: 2010-10-07
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: EU national, European citizenship, free movement of workers, interpretation of the law, limitation of legal proceedings, residence permit








C_2010328EN.01000502.xml










4.12.2010   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 328/5





Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber) of 7 October 2010 (reference for a preliminary ruling from the Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division) (United Kingdom)) — Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Taous Lassal
(Case C-162/09) (1)

(Reference for preliminary ruling - Freedom of movement for persons - Directive 2004/38/EC - Article 16 - Right of permanent residence - Temporal application - Periods completed before the date of transposition)
2010/C 328/08
Language of the case: English

Referring court

Court of Appeal (England and Wales) (Civil Division)

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Defendant: Taous Lassal

In the presence of: The Child Poverty Action Group

Re:

Interpretation of Article 16(1) of Directive 2004/58/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 (OJ 2004 L 158, p. 77) — Citizen of the Union who resided lawfully in the United Kingdom for five years prior to 30 April 2006, the last date for transposition of the directive, and then left the territory for a period of 10 months — Taking into account of the period ending prior to 30 April 2006 for the purposes of entitlement to the grant of a permanent right of residence

Operative part of the judgment

Article 16(1) and (4) 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 must be interpreted as meaning that:






—


continuous periods of five years’ residence completed before the date of transposition of Directive 2004/38, namely 30 April 2006, in accordance with earlier European Union law instruments, must be taken into account for the purposes of the acquisition of the right of permanent residence pursuant to Article 16(1) thereof, and










—


absences from the host Member State of less than two consecutive years, which occurred before 30 April 2006 but following a continuous period of five years’ legal residence completed before that date do not affect the acquisition of the right of permanent residence pursuant to Article 16(1) thereof.






(1)  OJ C 153, 4.7.2009.