I take away from this two observations:Such interpretation is supported by recent judgment of the Court in case Jia where the Court ruled that Community law does not require Member States to make the grant of a residence permit to nationals of a non-Member State, who are members of the family of a Union citizen who has exercised his or her right of free movement, subject to the condition that those family members have previously been residing lawfully in another Member State.
The Commission received recently a number of complaints concerning refusal by the Irish authorities of residence card applications of third country family members of Union citizens residing in Ireland on the grounds that the family members have not resided in a Member State before coming to Ireland. A case is pending before the Irish High Court on legality of Regulation 3(2) of the 2006 Regulations. The judgment is scheduled for 15 June 2007.
The Commission envisages addressing the compliance of Regulation 3(2) with Community law within the overall examination of compliance of the Irish legislation with Directive 2004/38/EC, as interpreted by the Court in case Jia. The examination is expected to be completed shortly.
(1) The complaints have started to get some attention to this issue
(2) There is a bigger review of the compliance of the Irish legislation with Directive 2004/38/EC
