The Court therefore finds that that term must be interpreted as meaning that a Union citizen who has been resident for more than five years in the host Member State on the sole basis of the national law of that State cannot be regarded as having acquired the right of permanent residence if, during that period of residence, he did not satisfy the conditions laid down in the Directive.

A right of permanent residence may be acquired only through periods of residence which satisfy the conditions laid down by EU law

The Bundesverwaltungsgsgericht (Federal Administrative Court, Germany), before which the proceedings are pending, has asked the Court of Justice, in essence, whether periods of residence in the host Member State under national law alone, including before Poland’s accession to the Union, should be regarded as periods of legal residence, as defined in the law of the Union, and thus be taken into account in calculating the length of residence of a Union citizen for the purposes of the acquisition of the right of permanent residence.

It codifies a complex corpus of legislation (9 Directives and 1 Regulation) and the extensive case law of the ECJ and provides a single, simple legal instrument on the fundamental right of free movement and residence, which will give this right more transparency and will make it easier to apply, It creates a single legal regime for free movement and residence within the context of citizenship of the Union for all categories of Union citizens while maintaining the acquired rights of workers. It improves and facilitates the exercise of the right of residence in the following ways: It extends family reunification rights of Union citizens t ...[+++]o the registered partner under certain conditions. It grants family members an autonomous right of residence in case of death of the Union citizen or the dissolution of marriage or registered partnership. It reduces administrative formalities: Union citizens will no longer be obliged to obtain a residence card but they may still be required to register with the relevant authorities and prove that they comply with residence conditions which are either to exercise an economic activity as worker or self-employed person or to have sufficient resources and a comprehensive sickness insurance. The main innovation of the Directive is the introduction of a right of permanent residence after five years of residence in the host Member State which will not longer be subject to any above condition and will ensure full equal treatment of Union citizens with nationals. The Directive finally increases protection against expulsion of Union citizens and their family members who have acquired a right of permanent residence and limits the possibility of expulsion of Union citizens who have resided in a Member State for the previous ten years or who are minors to cases based on imperative grounds of public

The first of these is to reduce administrative formalities to the bare necessities; secondly, the right to move freely without the need for any formalities for a period of three months; thirdly, to introduce the permanent right of residence after four years of continuous residency in the reception Member State; fourthly, to impose limits on a State’s power to refuse or revoke the right of residence for a Union citizen on the grounds of security or public order; my fifth and last point concerns the definition of the concept of family, I would like to emphasise that harmonising residency requirements for Union citizens must never lead ...[+++]to changes being imposed on Member State legislation and on their own definitions of the family status.

In the Commission’s opinion, this has also been achieved by removing the obligation, for EU citizens, to obtain a residency permit, which has been replaced by simply registering with the local residency authority; through introducing a right of permanent residency that would no longer be subject to any conditions after five years, or continuous residency in the reception Member State; and finally, through more clearly defining the status of family members and by enhancing their rights, not least as regards those family members that ...[+++]are not nationals of any Member State.