European Commission v Republic of Malta (C-181/23)
law://eu/cjeu/2023/c-181-23/para_92@2026-11-12
Key facts
Court
Court of Justice · Grand Chamber
Case
C-181/23 · ECLI:EU:C:2025:283
Decided
29 Apr 2025
Procedure
Infringement action
Applicant
European Commission
Defendant
Republic of Malta
Rapporteur
S. Rodin
Advocate General
A.M. Collins
Bench
13 judgesK. Lenaerts, T. von Danwitz, K. Jürimäe, C. Lycourgos, I. Jarukaitis, M.L. Arastey Sahún, S. Rodin, A. Kumin, N. Jääskinen, D. Gratsias, E. Regan, I. Ziemele, J. Passer
92Similarly, in the light both of the scope of the rights attaching to Union citizenship, set out in paragraphs 86 to 90 of the present judgment, and of the fact that that status derives automatically from the fact of being a national of a Member State, the Court has repeatedly held that Union citizenship constitutes the fundamental status of nationals of the Member States (see, to that effect, judgments of 20 September 2001, Grzelczyk, C‑184/99, EU:C:2001:458, paragraph 31; of 18 January 2022, Wiener Landesregierung (Revocation of an assurance of naturalisation), C‑118/20, EU:C:2022:34, paragraphs 38 and 58 and the case-law cited; and of 5 September 2023, Udlændinge- og Integrationsministeriet (Loss of Danish nationality), C‑689/21, EU:C:2023:626, paragraphs 29 and 38 and the case-law cited).