Kreis Warendorf v Ibrahim Alo and Amira Osso v and Region Hannover.
Date: 2016-03-01
27


According to settled case-law of the Court, the wording used in one language version of a provision of EU law cannot serve as the sole basis for the interpretation of that provision, or be made to override the other language versions. Provisions of EU law must be interpreted and applied uniformly in the light of the versions established in all the languages of the European Union. Where there is divergence between the various language versions of an EU legislative text, the provision in question must be interpreted by reference to the general scheme and the purpose of the rules of which it forms part (judgment in GSV, C‑74/13, EU:C:2014:243, paragraph 27 and the case-law cited).
28


It must be noted in that regard that it is clear from recitals 4, 23 and 24 of Directive 2011/95 that the Geneva Convention constitutes the cornerstone of the international legal regime for the protection of refugees and that the provisions of the directive for determining who qualifies for refugee status and the content of that status were adopted to guide the competent authorities of the Member States in the application of that convention on the basis of common concepts and criteria (see, by analogy, judgment in Abed El Karem El Kott and Others, C‑364/11, EU:C:2012:826, paragraph 42).
29


Directive 2011/95 must, for that reason, be interpreted in the light of its general scheme and purpose, and in a manner consistent with the Geneva Convention and the other relevant treaties referred to in Article 78(1) TFEU. As is apparent from recital 16 in the preamble thereto, the directive must also be interpreted in a manner consistent with the rights recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (see, by analogy, judgment in Abed El Karem El Kott and Others, C‑364/11, EU:C:2012:826, paragraph 43 and the case-law cited).
30


Furthermore, it follows from recital 3 of Directive 2011/95 that, drawing on the Conclusions of the Tampere European Council, the EU legislature intended to ensure that the European asylum system, to whose definition that directive contributes, is based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention.
31


In principle, those considerations are, in so far as they pertain to the Geneva Convention, relevant only in relation to the conditions for determining who qualifies for refugee status and the content of that status, since the system laid down by the convention applies only to refugees and not to beneficiaries of subsidiary protection status, which is intended, as is apparent from recitals 6 and 33 of Directive 2011/95, to complement and add to the protection of refugees enshrined in the convention (see, to that effect, judgments in Diakité, C‑285/12, EU:C:2014:39, paragraph 33, and N., C‑604/12, EU:C:2014:302, paragraph 31).
32


Nevertheless, recitals 8, 9 and 39 of Directive 2011/95 state that the EU legislature intended, in responding to the call of the Stockholm Programme, to establish a uniform status for all beneficiaries of international protection and that it accordingly chose to afford beneficiaries of subsidiary protection the same rights and benefits as those enjoyed by refugees, with the exception of derogations which are necessary and objectively justified.
48


So far as Article 29 of Directive 2011/95 is concerned, the Court notes that paragraph 1 thereof lays down a general rule that beneficiaries of international protection are to receive, in the Member State that has granted such protection, social assistance as provided to nationals of that Member State. That rule implies, in particular, that the access of those beneficiaries to social assistance cannot be dependent on compliance with conditions which are not imposed on nationals of the Member State that has granted the protection.
50


Accordingly, in the two situations mentioned in Article 29 of Directive 2011/95, the conditions under which beneficiaries of subsidiary protection status are eligible for the social assistance extended to them by the Member State that has granted them that protection must be the same as those under which such assistance is granted to nationals of that Member State.
51


Article 23 of the Geneva Convention, which, in the light of the reasoning in paragraphs 28 to 37 of the present judgment, is relevant for the interpretation of Article 29(1) of Directive 2011/95, confirms that analysis, since it states that the Contracting States are to accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals.
54


That said, national rules could legitimately provide for a residence condition to be imposed on beneficiaries of subsidiary protection status, without such a condition being imposed on refugees, third-country nationals legally resident in the territory of the Member State concerned on grounds that are not humanitarian or political or based on international law and nationals of that Member State, if those groups are not in an objectively comparable situation as regards the objective pursued by those rules.
55


In that respect, it must be noted, however, that the grant of social security benefits to a given person will entail costs for the institution that is required to provide those benefits, regardless of whether that person is a beneficiary of subsidiary protection status, a refugee, a third-country national who is legally resident in German territory on grounds that are not humanitarian or political or based on international law or a German national. The movement of recipients of those benefits or the fact that such persons are not equally concentrated throughout the Member State concerned may thus mean that the costs entailed are not evenly distributed among the various competent institutions, irrespective of the potential qualification of such recipients for subsidiary protection status.
59


In that regard, it should be stated that Article 29 of Directive 2011/95 is not relevant in the context of the examination of the third question, since beneficiaries of subsidiary protection status and German nationals are not in a comparable situation so far as the objective of facilitating the integration of third-country nationals is concerned.