Brussels, 24/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - National or regional legislation which treats third-country nationals who are long-term residents differently from EU citizens in allocation of funds for housing benefits contravenes EU law.
That is the substance of the ruling delivered by the Court of Justice of the EU on Tuesday 24 April (case C-571/10) in response to the Tribunale di Bolzano which asked the Court whether an Italian mechanism for allocating the funds for housing benefit - which treats third-country nationals who are long-term residents less favourably than EU citizens - is compatible with EU law (Charter of Fundamental Rights and Directive 2003/109/EC on the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents). An Albanian national, living in the Province of Balzano and holding a residence permit for an indefinite period, had his application for housing benefit, which he had received in previous years, rejected in 2009. The reason given was that, after amendment of the method of allocation, the budget intended for third-country nationals had been exhausted.
The Court states, firstly, that the effect of applying different multipliers to the allocation of funds is to disadvantage the category of third-country nationals, since the budget available to satisfy their demands for housing benefit is smaller than that for EU citizens. A third-country national who has acquired the status of a long-term resident (five years permanent and lawful residence) in a member state is in a comparable situation, with regard to housing benefit, to that of an EU citizen (whether Italian or not), with the same economic need. Directive 2003/109/EC provides for equal treatment for these two categories of persons in “core benefits” (which include minimum income support, assistance in case of illness, pregnancy, parental assistance and long-term care) to enable individuals to meet their basic needs such as food, accommodation and health. These core benefits, which are not exhaustively listed in the directive and from which housing benefit cannot be excluded, must be granted equally to nationals of the member state concerned and to third-country nationals who are long-term residents in accordance with the modalities of allocation determined by the legislation of that member state, the Court says. To establish whether or not the Italian housing benefit is contained within these core benefits, to which the principle of equality of treatment applies, the national court must take account both of the objective of integrating third-country nationals contained in the directive and the provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources. Thus, the national court must take into consideration the objective of housing benefit, how much it is worth, the conditions subject to which it is granted and the place of that benefit in the Italian system of social assistance. (FG/transl.rt)