Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 27 February 2014 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Arbeidshof te Brussel (Belgium)) – Federaal agentschap voor de opvang van asielzoeker v Selver Saciri, Danijela Dordevic, Danjel Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Sanela Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Denis Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn van Diest
(Case C-79/13) 1
(Directive 2003/9/EC – Minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers in the Member States – Article 13(1) – Time-limits for material reception conditions – Article 13(2) – Provisions on material reception conditions – Guarantees – Article 13(5) – Setting and grant of minimum reception conditions for asylum seekers – Size of the aid granted – Article 14 – Modalities for material reception conditions – Saturation of the reception facilities – Referral to national social protection systems – Provision of the material reception conditions in the form of financial allowances)
Language of the case: Dutch
Referring court
Arbeidshof te Brussel
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Federaal agentschap voor de opvang van asielzoeker
Defendants: Selver Saciri, Danijela Dordevic, Danjel Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Sanela Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Denis Saciri, represented by Selver Saciri and Danijela Dordevic, Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn van Diest
Re:
Request for a preliminary ruling – Arbeidshof te Brussel – Interpretation of Articles 13(1), (2) and (5) and 14(1), (3), (5) and (8) of Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers (OJ 2003 L 31, p. 18) – Grant of financial assistance – Obligations of the Member States – Saturation of national reception structures for accommodating asylum seekers.
Operative part of the judgment
Article 13(5) of Council Directive 2003/9/EC of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers must be interpreted as meaning, where a Member State has opted to grant the material reception conditions in the form of financial allowances or vouchers, that those allowances must be provided from the time the application for asylum is made, in accordance with the provisions of Article 13(1) of that directive, and must meet the minimum standards set out in Article 13(2) thereof. That Member State must ensure that the total amount of the financial allowances covering the material reception conditions is sufficient to ensure a dignified standard of living and adequate for the health of applicants and capable of ensuring their subsistence, enabling them in particular to find housing, having regard, if necessary, to the preservation of the interests of persons having specific needs, pursuant to Article 17 of that directive. The material reception conditions laid down in Article 14(1), (3), (5) and (8) of Directive 2003/9 do not apply to the Member States where they have opted to grant those conditions in the form of financial allowances only. Nevertheless, the amount of those allowances must be sufficient to enable minor children to be housed with their parents, so that the family unity of the asylum seekers may be maintained.
Directive 2003/9 must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude, where the accommodation facilities specifically for asylum seekers are overloaded, the Member States from referring the asylum seekers to bodies within the general public assistance system, provided that that system ensures that the minimum standards laid down in that directive as regards the asylum seekers are met.
____________1 OJ C 114, 20.4.2013.