The Role of the CJEU in the Strengthening of the Participation of Third-Country Nationals in the Academic Life in the EU – Analysis of the Ruling of the CJEU in Case M.A. v Consul of the Republic of Poland in N

Abstract

The analyzed ruling is the first judgement which the Court of Justice passed in order to provide interpretation for the new Student Directive (2016/801 of 11 May 2016 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing). Due to its judiciary activism, the Court was able to find a connection between the case pending before a national court and EU law in the case of M.A. In the end, the Court finally decided that in the case at issue, regarding the rights of a foreign national to apply for a residence permit for the purpose of enrolling in second-cycle studies programme in Poland, the procedure of applying for a long-stay visa on the grounds of national law must be safeguarded by the guarantees under Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The guarantees apply to the actual states in which EU law is applicable – in this case the “Student Directive.” It seems that the ruling in the case of M.A. will play a crucial role in facilitating students’ – TCNs’ – entry into the territory of the Republic of Poland, while the Polish legislator, in all probability, will be obliged to change the provisions of the national law in such a way as to make it possible for future students to access a full array of legal remedies against the negative decisions of consuls.

Keywords

• Long-stay visa
• foreign students
• Student Directive
• Directive 2016/801
• the right of defence and the right to an effective legal remedy