This week’s ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stems from a case from 2022 referred by a court in Bergamo, northern Italy. It concerned the case of a foreign national who had been granted subsidiary protection in Italy and had been a beneficiary of 'citizenship income' -- a form of welfare support that included both social benefits and a place on a work placement program.

The person in question, according to court case notes, had had his benefits revoked after an administrative check revealed that he had not been resident in Italy for more than ten years. In his challenge to this benefit loss, the individual argued that the Italian policy was indirectly discriminatory because the requirements would be more easily met by Italian citizens than migrants, asylum seekers and refugees who may have arrived in Italy more recently.

The judge in Bergamo ruled that it could be seen as potentially discriminatory and referred the case to the ECJ. The Italian Center for Juridical Studies on Migration (ASGI), in a press release on May 7, stated that while it was in force, the law had been responsible for excluding an "elevated number of foreign citizens."

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'Citizenship benefit'

The so-called 'citizenship benefit' (reddito di cittadinanza – RDC) is a result of a decree from 2019 which was further modified in March that year, stating that it was available to Italian and EU citizens as well as beneficiaries of protection who are in possession of a valid permanent residence permit and for those who have been resident in Italy for at least ten years, including the last two years prior to the date of application proving continuous residency.

According to court papers, the benefit helped pay towards rent and living expenses for those in need of it. It also included payments for children who are part of the nuclear family. The benefit also helped cover those with disabilities, up to 5,000 euros.

The benefit has a huge list of rules attached to it. No one in the household could own an expensive vehicle or have left their job, making themselves unemployed within the 12 months prior to application, unless the leaving of that job had a "just cause."

The benefit was obviously mostly intended for Italian citizens, but there was a clause in it that anyone who had received protection in Italy and had a valid residence permit could also apply.

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The Bergamo case

The court in the case of the applicant in Bergamo noted that the man arrived in Italy in 2011 and immediately applied for asylum, which was later granted in the form of subsidiary protection. So, once he received that, the man had a residency permit too. The man married and had two children in Italy, who were minors at the time of application.

According to the court, the family had no declarable income in 2021 and just 3,878 euros in 2022. They did not own any property anywhere in the world and were living below the limit required to apply for RDC.

The family was initially granted RDC because they "declared in error" that they had been resident continuously for ten years. A later check then removed this benefit and asked for them to pay back the benefits they had received, more than 13,000 euros in total.

Following the check, the man in question was deemed to have "not provided sufficient evidence of having been resident in Italy continuously for ten years." The judge said that the man had "incontestable proof" that he had uninterrupted residency in Italy since 2013 but admitted that at the time of application, that was not quite the ten years required by the law, although he had arrived in Italy ten years before, it was just that the first period he would have been waiting for a residency permit and therefore could not present it as ten years with a valid permit.

The judge noted that the applicant did not feel he had presented a "false declaration," even if, administratively, he didn’t fit the criteria of the RDC.

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ECJ ruling

The ECJ court in Luxembourg appeared to agree with the man, pointing out that the RDC was intended as a benefit to help provide for the future of the beneficiaries and improve their integration in society, through helping them access work placements as well as offering them social support. They added that the benefit was explicitly offered to Italians and foreigners, provided they met the residency criteria and the minimum income requirements.

The ECJ added that the residency requirement did constitute an indirect discrimination towards foreigners, which in principle is forbidden by other EU equality laws. Under EU law, those conferred with asylum, refugee status or subsidiary protection have a right to receive exactly the same benefits as all other EU citizens.

That renders the Italian criteria in direct contrast to European law, which provides that anyone with valid residency should be able to access the same benefits under the same conditions. The RDC law was revoked on January 1, 2024 and substituted partly with a different welfare benefit known as an "inclusion cheque."

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni had frequently spoken out against the benefit, which was introduced by a previous government, saying that no one should be dependent on handouts from government and that people should be encouraged to work and contribute to the national good.

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ASGI demands a suspension of INPS repayment requests

In light of this judgement by the ECJ, as well as a judgement by Italy’s Constitutional Court in 2025, which also called the ten-year residency requirement "disproportionate," suggesting it should be set at five years instead. The current ECJ ruling overrides the Italian Constitutional Court decision.

ASGI has demanded that the Italian social welfare office INPS suspend all requests and attempts to recuperate monies from foreign beneficiaries who may have fallen foul of the ten-year requirement.

In a press release issued on May 7, ASGI also called on the Italian government and parliament to revise the current law, which still requires someone to have been resident in Italy for at least five years before being allowed access to the new equivalent welfare benefit, known as the 'Inclusion Cheque' (Assegno di Inclusione – ADI).

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