Rights and Restrictions of EU Citizens within the Freedom of Movement of Persons

• Author: Diana Duca - Gabriel Gurita
• Position: Lawyer, Bucharest Bar, Romania - Lawyer, Galati Bar, Romania
• Pages: 85-90

Legal Sciences in the New Millennium

85

Rights and Restrictions of EU Citizens within the Freedom

of Movement of Persons

Diana Duca

1, Gabriel Guri2

Abstract: This Paper aims at presenting the risks and advantages of being a citizen of the European Union

Member State/s, with respect to the Freedom of Movement of Persons, with focus on the Principle of Equality

and Anti- Discrimination, as enshrined by the Treaties and other incident legislative acts, at first, and then as

applied by the European Court of Justice via its established case law. Moreover, the two indicated Prin ciples

are qu intessential when it comes to the rights pertaining to EU citizens, and therefore other Freedoms are

interpreted in the light of Equality and Anti- Discrimination, e.g. Services, Capital etc. Regardless if one is a

worker, a student or just someone who wishes to exercise his/her rights as an EU citizen in other capacities, it

is highly desirable to understand the rationale behind those rights/freedoms.

Keywords: EU Law; students; workers; EU citizenship; equality; discrimination on grounds of na tionality;

ECJ Case- Law

1. Preliminary Remarks

When an EU citizen wishes to study/work abroad, awareness must be provided in relation to the

conditions imposed by the National Authorities of the host Member State. As a consequence of the

shared competences between Member States and European Union, except for the areas where the

European Union has exclusiveness, National Authorities may impose different conditions which are to

be met when a citizen of the EU wants to access another EU Member State territory. In this regard,

this article will present two of the Landmark ECJ Cases, in order to have a peer outlook on the rights

and obligations conferred by the EU citizenship. The Author trusts that having examples that explain

the admission process and the residence criteria, along with the correspondent restrictions, the Reader,

will better understand why it is beneficial, or not, to be a part of the European Union.

2. Ruling of the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), of March 15, 2005 in Case

C-209/03, The Queen, on the application of Dany Bidar v London Borough of Ealing and

Secretary of State for Education and Skills, ECR I-021193

A. Facts

In August 1998 Mr Bidar, a French national, entered the territory of the United Kingdom,

accompanying his mother who was to undergo medical treatment there. Of course, they lived together,

1Lawyer, Bucharest Bar, Romania, Address: 10 Soldat Iosif Ion Str., Bucharest, Romania, Tel.: +4076636191, Corresponding

author: diana.l.duca@gmail.com.

2 Lawyer, Galati Bar, Romania, Address: 157 Brailei Str., bl.A7, ap. 8, Galati, Romania, Tel.: +40723293112, E-mail:

diana.l.duca@gmail.com.

3 www.duca-llm.ro.