Subdelegación del Gobierno en Ciudad Real v. RH, Case C-836/18, CJEU, 27 February 2020

Methods for implementing the derived right of residence that must be recognised from the Member State to a third-country national, family member of a citizen of the European Union who has never exercised his or her freedom of movement. Prohibition of discrimination based on citizenship.

Art. 20 TFEU

Article 20 TFEU must be interpreted as preventing a Member State from rejecting an application for family reunification introduced by a third-country national who is the spouse of a citizen of the European Union who holds the nationality of that Member State and who does not has ever exercised his freedom of movement, based on the sole finding that said Union citizen does not have sufficient resources for himself and his spouse to avoid becoming a burden for the national social security system. It is necessary to examine whether there is a relationship of dependency between that Union citizen and his spouse of such a nature that, in the event of a refusal to grant a derived right of residence to the latter, the Union citizen himself would be forced to leave the territory of the European Union as a whole and would thus be deprived of the effective enjoyment of the essential content of the rights conferred by his status.