Luxembourg, 10/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Advocate General Geelhoed considers Michel Trojani, a French homeless person lodged at the Salvation Army in Brussels in exchange for around thirty hours of varied work, does not have the status of worker which would give him the right to a residence permit and the possibility of receiving social benefits. Leendert Geelhoed concludes that a Member State, in this case Belgium, has the power to refuse the right of stay to any European Union citizen who is in the same situation as Michel Trojani. The latter cannot claim a residency permit on the basis of Article 18EC if he does not have his own means of subsistence, the Advocate General explains. Article 18 of the Treaty provides for any Union citizen to have the right to move and reside freely on the territory of the Member States subject to the restrictions and conditions set out in the present treaty.
This affair was sent to the Court of Justice by the Labour Tribunal in Brussels in November 2002. Michel Trojani challenged before the Belgian court the decision taken by the public social welfare centre in Brussels to refuse the minimum means of existence ("minimex") in social benefits. The Advocate General puts the following question: Does a national of a Member States, who goes to another Member State without financial resources and ends up in assisted housing in exchange for thirty hours of unspecified work, have the right to stay in this Member State and then claim social allowances? His answer was in the negative.
Leendert Geelhoed also places emphasis on the various forms of economic migration that exist - and that constitute a "heterogeneous reality" - and on the status of persons that is "not always clear" and that is often of a hybrid kind, mainly in the "lower levels of the labour market". He notes the complex nature of the problem. Thus, he said, in the case of non-profit making work in the private sector such as the Salvation Army, there cannot always be a clear distinction between paid work and voluntary work. It is not always clear in advance whether the activity carried out is of an essentially economic kind. This depends on the goals pursued and on the market impact. In the case of Michel Trojani, the Advocate General specifies, it is the fact of hosting the person and not the work carried out by that person which is the main element in relations with the Salvation Army. He went on to conclude that Michel Trojani cannot have the status of worker to obtain a permit to reside in Belgium and then ask for a subsistence allowance.