Annotation: the European Union jobseeker faces legal uncertainty

Following the writing of an expert opinion within the Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic (Ghent University), Renee Van Achter, Jeffrey Roegiers and Lukas Asselman wrote an annotation for the academic journal ‘Tijdschrift voor Vreemdelingenrecht’ (2021/4).

Both the expert opinion and the annotation deal with the case G.M.A. against the Belgian State submitted before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In this case the Belgian Council of State asks two preliminary questions to the Court of Justice.

The first question relates to the freedom of movement of European Union workers. The question concerns the reasonable period of time a Union citizen seeking employment must be granted in order to find a suitable job in another Member State. The second preliminary question concerns the scope of the annulment authority of the Council for Alien Law Litigation.

Renee Van Achter, Jeffrey Roegiers and Lukas Asselman conclude that the Court of Justice doesn’t give an opinion on the annulment competence of the Council for Alien Law Litigation. In addition, they conclude that the Court doesn’t (fully) answer the question whether a period to look for work may in any case not be less than six months. A Union citizen looking for work in another Member State will continue to face a high level of legal uncertainty with regard to the reasonable period of time he should be granted to be able to find an appropriate job. Once again, according to the authors, the Court misses an opportunity to provide a clear interpretation of the concept of  a "reasonable period of time" and to establish a minimum period of time.

Consult the full annotation via this link.