Language Requirements: Integration Measures or Legal Barriers? Insights from X v Udlændingenævnet

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2023 8(1), 117-129 | European Forum Insight of 25 May 2023 | (Table of Contents) I. Introduction. - II. The EEC-Turkey Association Agreement: the role played by Decision 1/80 and its standstill clause. - III. Factual background and preliminary questions. - IV. The Court's ruling: Danish legislation constitutes a new and unjustified restriction. - V. Beyond language "barriers": Paving the way to new integration strategies. - VI. Conclusion. | (Abstract) In X v Udlændingenævnet, the Court of Justice dealt with a Danish provision requiring a Turkish worker, legally resident in Denmark, to successfully pass a language test as a necessary condition to provide his spouse with a residence permit for the purpose of family reunification. The Court claimed that said legislation constitutes a "new restriction" within the meaning of art. 13 of Decision No 1/80 of the EEC-Turkey Association Council. This Insight addresses the main features of the preliminary judgment in X v Udlændingenævnet and offers an appraisal on the leading issues related to integration conditionality. Moving on from the Court's judgement, this Insight focuses on whether national measures imposing pre-departure language requirements may be conceived as tools for controlling immigration rather than effective integration instruments.

Keywords

• language requirement
• family reunification
• migrants' integration
• freedom of movement of workers
• eec-turkey association agreement
• standstill clause