Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 5 September 2023 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Østre Landsret — Denmark) — X v Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet

(Case C-689/21, (1) Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet (Loss of Danish nationality))

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Citizenship of the European Union - Article 20 TFEU - Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union - Citizen holding the nationality of a Member State and the nationality of a third country - Loss of the nationality of the Member State by operation of law upon reaching the age of 22 on the ground of lack of a genuine link with that Member State where no application to retain nationality has been made before the date on which that age is reached - Loss of citizenship of the Union - Examination of the proportionality of the consequences of that loss from the point of view of EU law - Limitation period)

(C/2023/189)

Language of the case: Danish

Referring court

Østre Landsret

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: X

Defendant: Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet

Operative part of the judgment

Article 20 TFEU, read in conjunction with Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State under which its nationals born outside its territory who have never been resident there and have not spent time there in circumstances demonstrating a genuine link with that Member State lose, by operation of law, the nationality of that State at the age of 22, which entails, for persons who are not also nationals of another Member State, the loss of their citizenship of the European Union and the rights attaching thereto, provided that the persons concerned are given the opportunity to lodge, within a reasonable period, an application for the retention or recovery of the nationality, which enables the competent authorities to examine the proportionality of the consequences of the loss of that nationality from the point of view of EU law and, where appropriate, to allow the retention or recovery ex tunc of that nationality. Such a period must extend, for a reasonable length of time, beyond the date on which the person concerned reaches that age and cannot begin to run unless those authorities have duly informed that person of the loss of his or her nationality or of the imminence of that loss, and of his or her right to apply, within that period, for the maintenance or recovery of that nationality. Failing that, those authorities must be in a position to carry out such an examination, as an ancillary issue, in the context of an application by the person concerned for a travel document or any other document showing his or her nationality.

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(1)   OJ C 64, 7.2.2022.