G.S. e V.G. v. Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid, Case C-381/18 e C-382/18, CJEU, 12 December 2019

Refusal of an application for entry and residence in a Member State based on reasons of public order. Conditions for exercising the right to family reunification. 

Council Directive 2003/86 / EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification.

Art. 6 of Directive 2003/86/EC must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude a national practice under which the competent authorities may, for reasons of public order, on the one hand, reject an application for entry and residence based on the aforementioned directive on the basis of a criminal conviction occurred during a previous stay in the territory of the Member State concerned and, on the other hand, revoke a residence permit based on the same directive if a sentence higher than the duration of the stay has been pronounced against the applicant, provided that this practice is applied only if the offense that is the subject of the criminal conviction in question is sufficiently serious to be able to establish that it is necessary to exclude the residence of the applicant in question and these authorities carry out the individual assessment pursuant to art. 17 of the directive in question, a circumstance which it is for the referring court to verify. Therefore, in a situation in which a judge is called to rule on a request for entry and residence of a third-country national, family member of a citizen of the Union who has not exercised his right of free movement, where the same provision has been made applicable to such a situation, directly and unconditionally, by national law.