Request for a preliminary ruling from the Raad van State (Netherlands) lodged on 15 March 2023 – T.G. v Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid

(Case C-158/23, Keren ¹ )

Language of the case: Dutch

Referring court

Raad van State

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: T.G.

Defendant: Minister van Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid

Questions referred

Must Article 34 of the Qualification Directive ¹ be interpreted as precluding a national rule such as that laid down in Article 7b of the Wet inburgering (Law on civic integration), pursuant to which holders of asylum status are placed under the obligation, on pain of a fine, to pass a civic integration examination?

Must Article 34 of the Qualification Directive be interpreted as precluding a national rule based on the premiss that holders of asylum status themselves bear the full costs of integration programmes?

In answering the second question, is it significant that holders of asylum status can receive a government loan to cover the costs of integration programmes and that that loan is waived if they pass their civic integration examination on time or are exempted from or released from the civic integration obligation in good time?

If it is permissible, under Article 34 of the Qualification Directive, that holders of asylum status are obliged, on pain of a fine, to pass a civic integration examination, and that holders of asylum status bear the full costs of integration programmes, does the amount of the loan to be repaid, whether or not together with the fine, then undermine the achievement of the purpose and useful effect of Article 34 of the Qualification Directive?

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¹ The name of the present case is fictitious and does not correspond to the actual name of any party to the proceedings.

¹ Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (OJ 2011 L 337, p. 9).