Overview
- Italy’s requirement that people live in the country for ten years to receive the “Bürgergeld” benefit amounts to indirect discrimination against recognized refugees, the European Court of Justice ruled in case C-747/22.
- The judges classified Bürgergeld as a core minimum‑income safety net, not just an employment or integration tool, which triggers strict equal‑treatment rights under EU law.
- Italy’s claim that the rule ensures a genuine link to the country and eases administrative or budget pressures failed because the benefit’s costs do not depend on a person’s nationality.
- The case arose after the welfare agency stopped payments to a refugee who has lived in Italy since 2011 and sought to claw back money, a move the ruling now undercuts.
- National authorities must change their rules and past decisions to comply, and other EU countries with long residency hurdles for similar benefits may face pressure to revise their systems.