Name of the act/s*

Administrative High Court 28^th February 2020; Ra 2018/01/0159 (EU 2020/0001) of 13^th February 2020, C-118/20 (Preliminary reference)

Subject area

Citizenship law

Brief description of the contents of the act

 A national of the Republic of Estonia applied for the Austrian Citizenship. The Government of Lower Austria ensured to grant her the Austrian citizenship in case she could prove within two years that she had given up the Estonian citizenship. The originally Estonian applicant gave up her Estonian citizenship and is since then stateless and no longer a citizen of the EU.

In the meanwhile, the applicant had moved to Vienna and the competent government of Vienna revoked the assurance of Lower Austria and rejected the application to become an Austrian citizen. The decision was based on the fact, that the applicant had committed two serious administrative offenses since the application and was therefore not fulfilling the prerequisites for Austrian citizenship (laid down in the Austrian Citizenship Act [StBG]) anymore. The applicant filed a complaint at the Vienna Administrative Court, which was rejected.

The Administrative High Court, the applicant then appealed to, decided to refer (amongst others) the following question to the ECJ: Does the situation of a person who has renounced the nationality of a member state of the EU and thus the citizenship of the EU to acquire the nationality of another member state and whose possibility of recovering citizenship of the Union is removed as a consequence fall within the scope of EU law, so EU law must be observed when revoking the assurance of granting the citizenship?

Comment

The Vienna Administrative Court found, that the case was not falling into the scope of EU law, because the applicant had already renounced the Estonian citizenship (and therefore her EU citizenship). Since the Vienna Administrative Court had carried out a proportionality analysis based on Austrian law and not on EU law, the Administrative High Court asked the ECJ whether the case fell into the scope of EU law (to find out whether a proportionality analysis based on EU law as well was necessary in the concrete case).

*Act citation /year and number

Administrative High Court 28^th February 2020; Ra 2018/01/0159 (EU 2020/0001) of 13^th February 2020, C-118/20

Enacted by

Administrative High Court

Official link to the text of the act

https://www.vwgh.gv.at/rechtsprechung/vorabentscheidungsantraege_an_den_eugh/ra_2018010159.pdf?7qkupl