## Facts

- Gerardo Ruiz Zambrano, a Colombian national, resided in Belgium with his spouse after their asylum claims were refused; they remained and sought regularization of residence.
- Two children were born in Belgium and acquired Belgian nationality at birth, making them citizens of the European Union.
- Mr. Zambrano worked in Belgium under an indefinite, full-time employment contract without a formal work permit and supported his family, with social-security contributions paid.
- After periods of unemployment, he applied for unemployment benefits; the Belgian National Employment Office (ONEm) refused, citing lack of lawful residence and work authorization under Belgian law.
- Belgian authorities also rejected the parents’ request for residence as ascendants of Belgian nationals.
- Mr. Zambrano challenged the refusals, arguing EU law entitled him to reside and work as the parent on whom minor EU-citizen children depended.

## Issues

1. Whether Article 20 TFEU (EU citizenship) can constrain a Member State’s treatment of a third-country parent where the EU-citizen children have never exercised free movement.
2. Whether Article 20 TFEU precludes refusing residence and a work permit to a dependent minor EU citizen’s third-country parent when the refusals would, in practice, compel the children to leave the European Union.

## Decision

- The Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) held that Article 20 TFEU precludes a Member State from refusing a right of residence to a third-country national parent upon whom minor EU-citizen children are dependent, where refusal would deprive the children of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of their EU-citizenship rights.
- The Court further held that Article 20 TFEU likewise precludes refusal of a work permit to that parent insofar as it would create the same practical effect (forcing the children to leave the EU).
- The Court grounded the ruling in Article 20 TFEU, not in Directive 2004/38 or a separate Charter analysis.
- The national court was to apply the interpretation to the facts in resolving the disputes over residence, work authorization, and related benefits.

## Legal Principles

- EU citizenship under Article 20 TFEU protects Union citizens against national measures that deprive them of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of rights attached to that status.
- Article 20 TFEU can apply even without cross-border movement by the Union citizen, where national measures effectively force the citizen to leave the territory of the Union.
- A Member State may not deny residence to a third-country national parent of dependent minor Union citizens when denial would compel the children to leave the EU.
- A Member State may not deny a work permit to such a parent when denial would foreseeably deprive the family of resources and thereby compel the Union-citizen children to leave the EU.

## Conclusion

The Court held that Article 20 TFEU can require a Member State to grant residence and work authorization to a third-country parent of dependent minor EU-citizen children when refusal would effectively force the children to leave the European Union and thus strip them of the substance of their Union-citizenship rights.


Ruiz Zambrano v. Office National de l’Emploi (ONEm), Case C-34/09 (C.J.E.U. Mar. 8, 2011)