AT v Pensionsversicherungsanstalt.
Date: 2020-01-22
33


In the second place, it should be recalled that Directive 2004/38 introduced a gradual system as regards the right of residence in the host Member State, which reproduces, in essence, the stages and conditions set out in the various instruments of EU law and case-law preceding that directive and culminates in the right of permanent residence (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16 and C‑424/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 51 and the case-law cited).
34


First, for periods of residence of up to three months, Article 6 of the directive limits the conditions and formalities of the right of residence to the requirement to hold a valid identity card or passport and, under Article 14(1) thereof, that right is retained as long as the Union citizen and his family members do not become an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16 and C‑424/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 52 and the case-law cited).
35


Next, for periods of residence longer than three months, the right of residence is subject to the conditions set out in Article 7(1) of Directive 2004/38 and, under Article 14(2) thereof, that right is retained only if the Union citizen and his family members satisfy those conditions. It is apparent from recital 10 in the preamble to the directive in particular that those conditions are intended, inter alia, to prevent such persons from becoming an unreasonable burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16 and C‑424/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 53 and the case-law cited).
36


Lastly, it follows from Article 16(1) of Directive 2004/38 that Union citizens acquire the right of permanent residence after residing legally for a continuous period of 5 years in the host Member State and that that right is not subject to the conditions referred to in the preceding paragraph. As stated in recital 18 in the preamble to the directive, once obtained, the right of permanent residence should not be subject to any further conditions, with the aim of it being a genuine vehicle for integration into the society of that State (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16 and C‑424/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 54 and the case-law cited).
38


Accordingly, the provisions concerning the acquisition, in the host Member State, of a right of permanent residence for workers who, at the time they stop working, have reached the age laid down by the law of that Member State for entitlement to an old age pension – such as those provided for in Article 17(1)(a) of Directive 2004/38 – form part of the gradual system established by the directive and constitute therein a regime that is more favourable to that category of EU citizens, in that the acquisition of a right of permanent residence in that Member State is provided for before completion of a continuous period of 5 years of residence. Furthermore, as provisions which constitute a derogation, they are to be interpreted strictly (see, by analogy, judgment of 11 June 2015, Zh. and O., C‑554/13, EU:C:2015:377, paragraph 42).
41


In that regard, as recital 17 in the preamble to Directive 2004/38 states, the right of permanent residence is a key element in promoting social cohesion and was provided for by that directive in order to strengthen the feeling of Union citizenship. The EU legislature accordingly made the acquisition of the right of permanent residence pursuant to Article 16(1) thereof subject to the integration of the citizen of the Union in the host Member State (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 57 and the case-law cited).
42


As the Court has already held, integration, which is a precondition of the acquisition of the right of permanent residence laid down in Article 16(1) of Directive 2004/38, is based not only on territorial and temporal factors but also on qualitative elements, relating to the level of integration in the host Member State (judgment of 17 April 2018, B and Vomero, C‑316/16 and C‑424/16, EU:C:2018:256, paragraph 58 and the case-law cited).
43


Consequently, in the light of the objective pursued by Directive 2004/38, a right of permanent residence under Article 17(1)(a) of the directive can be available to workers who, at the time they stop working, have reached the age laid down by the law of the Member State for entitlement to an old age pension only if their integration in the host Member State can be demonstrated through the conditions set out in that provision (see, by analogy, judgment of 9 January 2003, Givane and Others, C‑257/00, EU:C:2003:8, paragraph 29).