The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Italian law on granting ‘citizens’ income’ infringes EU law in that it discriminates against third-country nationals benefiting from international protection, in a judgment delivered on Thursday 7 May (case C-747/22).
A foreign national refugee in Italy has had his ‘citizens’ income’, social benefits accompanied by an occupational integration scheme, withdrawn on the grounds that he had not resided in Italy for at least ten years, a condition stipulated in Italian law. He challenged this decision by the Italian authorities. The latter argued that the benefit in question is not intended to cover a primary need, but rather falls under employment and integration policies, thereby justifying a genuine link with Italy.
Interpreting Directive 2011/95 laying down standards for granting international protection, the Court has found that the Italian ‘citizens’ income’ constitutes both a measure for access to employment and an essential social benefit in the form of a minimum income, both of which are subject to the principle of equal treatment between beneficiaries of international protection and national citizens.
The European Court also points out that EU law does not authorise Member States to impose conditions or limitations additional to those provided for in the directive as criteria for granting the benefits in question to refugees.
According to the Court, the ten-year residence requirement, even if applied identically to citizens of a Member State and refugees, disproportionately affects non-nationals and constitutes indirect discrimination against them, which is, in principle, prohibited.
The CJEU also holds that this requirement is not objectively justified by the fact that, according to the Italian government, granting the ‘citizens’ income’ would entail a significant administrative and economic burden, thereby justifying the restriction of this benefit solely to persons who are well integrated into the national community.
See the judgment of the Court of Justice: https://aeur.eu/f/lu5 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)