Just out of interest I tried to contact the EU Commission to find out what was happening in regards to the "centre of life rule" and I received the following response from their enquiry centre.
From the reply I received I'm assuming this is a matter of courts in the UK to push the Home Office to comply with EU law?
Thank you for your follow-up message.
As you correctly pointed out, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) extended the favorable treatment also to those EU citizens who return to their home Member State after having exercised their right and resided in another Member State (Case - C-370/90 and Case – 291/05), for providing for example services in another Member State without residing there, ( Case C-60/00 – Carpenter).
In addition, the CJEU points out (Case C-456/12) that only a period of residence satisfying the conditions of Directive 2004/38/EC relating to a right of residence for a period of longer than three months will give rise to such a right of residence. The Court notes that, even when considered together, short periods of residence (such as weekends or holidays spent in a Member State other than that of which the citizen is a national) do not satisfy those conditions.
Please, note that as a general information service of the EU, we are neither in a position to provide legal advice nor can we assess whether a piece of EU legislation or CJEU decision affects each individual case. It is for the national authorities and the national courts to verify and establish all pertinent facts and enforce applicable law. Therefore, we advise you to seek legal advice at national level.
Nevertheless, anyone who believes that an EU country is breaching EU law may lodge a complaint with the Commission.
Complaints must be submitted in writing. Information on how to proceed and the actions the complaint might lead to is available here:
http://ec.europa.eu/eu_law/your_rights/ ... hts_en.htm
See also the heading "Make a complaint about breaches of EU law" in the right margin.
An infringement procedure at EU level does not substitute national redress. For example, only national courts can issue orders to administrative bodies and annul a national decision. You can read more about national redress on the abovementioned web page.
We hope you find this information useful. Please contact us again if you have other questions.
With kind regards,
EUROPE DIRECT Contact Centre
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