JUDGMENT OF 15. 9. 2015 — CASE C-67/14
ALIMANOVIC
— the Danish Government, by M. Wolff, acting as Agent,
— Ireland, by E. Creedon, A. Joyce and E. McPhillips, acting as Agents, and G. Gilmore,
Barrister-at-Law,
— the French Government, by G. de Bergues and R. Coesme, acting as Agents,
— the Italian Government, by G. Palmieri, acting as Agent, and F. Varrone, avvocato dello Stato,
— the Swedish Government, by A. Falk, K. Sparrman, C. Meyer-Seitz, U. Persson, N. Otte Widgren,
L. Swedenborg, E. Karlsson and F. Sjövall, acting as Agents,
— the United Kingdom Government, by J. Beeko, acting as Agent, and J. Coppel QC,
— the European Commission, by M. Kellerbauer and D. Martin, acting as Agents,
after hearing the Opinion of the Advocate General at the sitting on 26 March 2015,
gives the following
Judgment
1
This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 18 TFEU and 45(2) TFEU,
of Articles 4 and 70 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of
29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems (OJ 2004 L 166, p. 1, and corrigendum at
OJ 2004 L 200, p. 1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 1244/2010 of 9 December 2010
(OJ 2010 L 338, p. 35) (‘Regulation No 883/2004’), and of Article 24(2) of Directive 2004/38/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and
their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, amending
Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC,
73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC (OJ 2004 L 158, p. 77).
2
The request has been made in proceedings between, on one hand, Jobcenter Berlin Neukölln (the
Employment Centre, Berlin Neukölln) (‘the Job Centre’) and, on the other hand, Nazifa Alimanovic
and her three children, Sonita, Valentina and Valentino Alimanovic (together ‘the Alimanovic family’),
concerning the withdrawal by that agency of benefits by the way of basic provision (‘Grundsicherung’)
provided for under German law.
Legal context
International law
3
Article 1 of the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance, signed in Paris on
11 December 1953 by the members of the Council of Europe and in force since 1956 in the Federal
Republic of Germany (‘the Assistance Convention’), lays down a principle of equal treatment in the
following terms:
‘Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to ensure that nationals of the other Contracting Parties
who are lawfully present in any part of its territory to which this Convention applies, and who are
without sufficient resources, shall be entitled equally with its own nationals and on the same
conditions to social and medical assistance … provided by the legislation in force from time to time in
that part of its territory.’
2
ECLI:EU:C:2015:597