CJEU Case 133/19 / Opinion

B. M. M. and Others v État belge
Policy area
Justice, freedom and security
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
Advocate General
Type
Opinion
Decision date
13/03/2020
ECLI (European case law identifier)
ECLI:EU:C:2020:222
  • CJEU Case 133/19 / Opinion

    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 4(1) — Concept of a ‘minor child’ — Article 24(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union — Best interests of the child — Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights — Right to an effective remedy — Children of the sponsor who have reached majority during the decision-making procedure or court proceedings against the decision refusing the family reunification application.

    Outcome of the case:

    For these reasons, therefore, I am of the view that the questions posed by the Conseil d’État (Counsil of State, Belgium) may conveniently be answered in one single response as follows:

    Article 4 and Article 18 of Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification, read in the light of Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union should be interpreted as meaning that a third country national who is below the age of 18 at the time of his or her request for family reunification in a Member State but who, in the course of the administrative procedure reviewing his or her request, or in the course of judicial proceedings subsequently challenging a refusal to grant family reunification attains his or her majority, should nonetheless be regarded as a ‘minor’ for the purposes of Article 4 of Directive 2003/86.