Freedom of Movement, Social Integration and Naturalization: Testing Reverse Discrimination in the Recent Case Law of the Court of Justice

Abstract

The Insight addresses reverse discrimination in the field of free movement and derived residence rights for EU citizens’ family members who are third country nationals. It outlines the debate concerning the justification for differential treatment and discusses the role of the EU and the Member States in relation to reverse discrimination. While the Court of Justice has traditionally considered the exercise of the freedom of movement as a sufficient link with EU law, the recent case law shows that the coherence of this approach is under pressure. As the Lounes preliminary ruling shows (judgment of 14 November 2017, case C-165/16, Lounes [GC]), when movers settle in the host State, are fully integrated and eventually naturalize, differential treatments between movers and statics can be hardly justified and urge the Member States to address this phenomenon.