The Court of Justice of the European Community, with its seat in Luxembourg, has reaffirmed the importance of guaranteeing the protection of family life and free circulation also to the citizens of a non-EU state who are married to an EU citizen (sentence of the Court in suit C-459/99, “Mouvement contre le racisme, l’antisémitisme et la xénophobie” brought against the Belgian State). The Court had been appealed to by the Council of State of Belgium with regard to a circular of the Belgian ministry of the interior and ministry of justice of 28 August 1997. This circular laid down the procedures for obtaining visas to contract marriage in Belgium or visas for the reuniting of families. The “Movement against racism, antisemitism and xenophobia” had asked the Belgian Council of State to annul this circular since incompatible with EU regulations on the transfer and residence within the Community. The Court of Justice pointed out that “rejection at the frontier is disproportionate and hence prohibited if the citizen of a third country, married to an EU citizen, may prove his/her identity and conjugal link”. In the same way, the Court ruled, a disproportionate measure for such a citizen is represented both by “the refusal to grant a residence permit” and “an expulsion order based exclusively on the failure to conform to the formalities of laws relating to the control of foreigners”. The issuing of visas, the Court recommended, to non-EU citizens married to EU citizens must occur “as rapidly as possible and, as far as is possible, in the places of entry into the national territory”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 42 N.ro relativo : 30 Data pubblicazione : 03/08/02
