Article 7 - Respect for private and family life
Article 51 - Field of application
Article 24 - The rights of the child
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Area of freedom, security and justice – Immigration policy – Right to family reunification – Directive 2003/86/EC – Article 10(3)(a) – Family reunification of an unaccompanied minor refugee with his or her first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line – Article 2(f) – Concept of ‘unaccompanied minor’ – Minor sponsor at the time of submission of the application but who attained majority during the family reunification procedure – Relevant date for assessing minor status – Period for submitting an application for family reunification – Adult sister of the sponsor requiring the permanent assistance of her parents on account of a serious illness – Effectiveness of the right to family reunification of an unaccompanied minor refugee – Article 7(1) – Article 12(1), first and third subparagraphs – Possibility of making family reunification subject to additional conditions.
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (Grand Chamber) hereby rules:
1. Article 10(3)(a) of Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification must be interpreted as meaning that, in order to be able to base a right to family reunification on that provision and thereby benefit from the more favourable conditions laid down therein, that provision does not require the first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line of an unaccompanied minor refugee to submit the application for entry and residence for the purposes of family reunification with him or her within a given period, where that refugee is still a minor on the date on which that application is submitted and reaches majority during the family reunification procedure.
2. Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86 must be interpreted as requiring a residence permit to be granted to the adult sister of an unaccompanied minor refugee, who is a third-country national and who, on account of a serious illness, is totally and permanently dependent on the assistance of her parents, where a refusal to grant that residence permit would result in that refugee’s being deprived of his or her right to family reunification with his or her first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line, conferred by that provision.
3. Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86 must be interpreted as meaning that a Member State may not require that, in order to be able to benefit from the right to family reunification with his or her first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line under that provision, an unaccompanied minor refugee or his or her first-degree relatives in the direct ascending line meet the conditions laid down in Article 7(1) of that directive, irrespective of whether the application for family reunification has been submitted within the period laid down in the third subparagraph of Article 12(1) of the said directive.
47 In that regard, it should be noted that, under Article 51(1) of the Charter, when they are implementing EU law, Member States must respect the rights and observe the principles established by the Charter and promote the application thereof, in accordance with their respective powers and respecting the limits of the powers of the European Union as conferred on it in the Treaties.
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49 In particular, Article 7 of the Charter recognises the right to respect for private and family life. In accordance with settled case-law, that provision of the Charter must also be read in conjunction with the obligation to have regard to the child’s best interests, recognised in Article 24(2) of the Charter, and with account being taken of the need, expressed in Article 24(3) thereof, for a child to maintain on a regular basis a personal relationship with both his or her parents (judgment of 1 August 2022, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Family reunification with a minor refugee), C‑273/20 and C‑355/20, EU:C:2022:617, paragraph 38 and the case-law cited).
50 It follows that the provisions of Directive 2003/86 must be interpreted and applied in the light of Article 7 and Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter, as is moreover apparent from recital 2 and Article 5(5) of that directive, which require the Member States to examine applications for family reunification in the interests of the children concerned and with a view to promoting family life (judgment of 1 August 2022, Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Family reunification with a minor refugee), C‑273/20 and C‑355/20, EU:C:2022:617, paragraph 39 and the case-law cited).
51 That is true, in particular, of Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86, which aims, as has been noted in paragraph 40 of the present judgment, specifically to promote the reunification of unaccompanied minor refugees with their parents, in order to guarantee those minors an additional protection on account of their particular vulnerability, and which is therefore of particular importance for the effective respect for the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 7 and Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter.
57 Such an outcome would be incompatible with the unconditional nature of that right and would undermine its effectiveness, which would disregard both the objective of Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86, recalled in paragraph 51 of the present judgment, and the requirements arising from Article 7 and Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter, mentioned in paragraph 49 of the present judgment, with which that directive must ensure compliance.
58 It follows that, in the light of the exceptional circumstances of the case in the main proceedings, it is for the referring court to ensure the effectiveness of RI’s right to family reunification with his parents, stemming from Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86, as well as respect for the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 7 and Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter, by granting also his sister an entry and residence permit in Austria.
76 Moreover, by excluding, in the context of applications for family reunification of unaccompanied minor refugees with their parents, based on Article 10(3)(a) of Directive 2003/86, the possibility for the Member States to require that the conditions laid down in Article 7(1) of that directive be met, the EU legislature complied with the requirements arising from Article 7 of the Charter, concerning respect for family life, and from Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter, implying that, in all actions relating to children, the child’s best interests are a primary consideration and that account is taken of the need for a child to maintain a personal relationship with his or her parents on a regular basis.
77 As the Commission has asserted, it is practically impossible for an unaccompanied minor refugee to have, for him or herself and the members of his or her family, accommodation, sickness insurance and sufficient resources and thus to meet the conditions defined in Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/86. Likewise, it is extremely difficult for the parents of such a minor to meet those conditions before even having joined their child in the Member State concerned. Thus, to make the possibility of family reunification of unaccompanied minor refugees with their parents dependent on compliance with the said conditions would, in reality, be tantamount to depriving those minors of their right to such reunification, in breach of the requirements arising from Article 7 and Article 24(2) and (3) of the Charter.
