agencies, branches or subsidiaries by nationals of any Member State established in the
territory of any other Member State.
Freedom of establishment shall include the right to take up and pursue activities as self-
employed persons and to set up and manage undertakings...
To which kinds of situations do these provisions apply? Clearly they apply to
nationals of one Member State who take up a full paid job in another Member State.
They are allowed to take up residence in the country in which they work. But what
if the job does not provide enough money to secure a living?
Kempf (CJEU Case C-139/85)
Kempf, a German national, entered the Netherlands on 1 September 1981 and worked there
as a part-time music teacher, giving 12 lessons a week from 26 October 1981 to 14 July- That did not bring sufficient money to live upon and therefore in the same period he
applied for and received supplementary benefit under the “Law on unemployment benefit”.
Then, on 30 November 1981, Mr. Kempf applied for a residence permit in the Netherlands
in order to “pursue an activity as an employed person” in that country. This permit was
refused because Kemp had received state-provided benefits. The question was raised
whether this would exclude him from the provisions of community law relating to freedom
of movement for workers. The CJEU ruled that:
“The provisions of community law relating to freedom of movement for workers also
cover a national of a Member State who pursues, within the territory of another Member
State, an activity as an employed person which yields an income lower than that which, in
the latter state, is considered as the minimum required for subsistence, whether that person
supplements the income from his activity as an employed person with other income so as to
arrive at that minimum or is satisfied with means of support lower than the said minimum,
provided that he pursues an activity as an employed person which is effective and genuine.”
As this example illustrates, the criterion is whether a person who wants to reside
in a Member State has a real job and not whether he can fully provide for his own
subsistence. According to the Preamble of the Citizens Rights Directive:
The right of all Union citizens to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member
States should, if it is to be exercised under objective conditions of freedom and dignity, be
also granted to their family members, irrespective of nationality.
This covers the fact that the close relatives of citizens of the EU can follow if a
citizen moves to another Member State.
10.5.4 Free Movement of Services
EU law does not only contain a freedom to move but also contain a freedom to
provide and receive services. In principle, residents of one Member State are
allowed to provide services in another Member State. As Article 56 TFEU states:
Within the framework of the provisions set out below, restrictions on freedom to provide
services within the Union shall be prohibited in respect of nationals of Member States who
are established in a Member State other than that of the person for whom the services are
intended...10 The Law of Europe 225