58The Court has previously had occasion to rule, in connection with the instruments of European Union law prior to Directive 2004/38, that the marital relationship cannot be regarded as dissolved as long as it has not been terminated by the competent authority, and that is not the case where the spouses merely live separately, even if they intend to divorce at a later date, so that the spouse does not necessarily have to live permanently with the Union citizen in order to hold a derived right of residence (see Case 267/83 Diatta [1985] ECR 567, paragraphs 20 and 22).
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