ECJ on the Loss of EU Citizenship

May 10, 2024 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

In its latest ruling, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that EU law does not in principle preclude the automatic loss of German citizenship when a person regains citizenship of a third country. However, a case-by-case assessment of the consequences of this loss for the person concerned must be possible if this loss also entails the loss of EU citizenship.

A number of German citizens are contesting before a German court the loss of their German citizenship which they acquired by becoming naturalised German citizens in 1999. In order to obtain German citizenship, they had to give up their Turkish citizenship, which they had at that time. After they were naturalised in Germany, they re-acquired their Turkish citizenship at their own request. This re-acquisition of Turkish citizenship resulted in the automatic loss of German citizenship due to a change in German legislation which entered into force on 1 January 2000.

The compatibility of this automatic loss of German citizenship with EU law was now questioned by the competent German court.

The ECJ has recently given its preliminary ruling:

In principle, there would be no objection to the automatic loss of the nationality of an EU Member State, and thus of European citizenship, if the nationality of a third country is voluntarily accepted.

The conditions for the acquisition and loss of nationality are the responsibility of each Member State. However, if the loss of nationality also entails the loss of Union citizenship, certain requirements of Union law must be respected, in particular the principle of proportionality. The Member State and its citizens have a special relationship of attachment and loyalty, as well as mutual rights and obligations.

Accordingly, a person who voluntarily renounces their nationality must also be able to appeal to the national authorities and courts to examine whether the loss of the status of Union citizen has disproportionate consequences for this individual. If so, they must be able to retain their nationality and thus their EU citizenship or, if appropriate, to re-acquire them with retroactive effect.

ECJ C-684/22 (25 April 2024)