The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled today in a case concerning an Eritrean client of our office who had to repay a large sum of money to DUO because he had not integrated within the deadline of three years. The Court ruled that European law precludes the Dutch rules on the mandatory repayment of a government loan and the imposition of high fines in such a case.
The Court declares that repaying the loan of €10,000 and an additional fine of €500, as was the case for our client, is in conflict with European law. The Court emphasizes how high the costs of this loan are, and considers that having to pay the full costs of integration courses and exams is in conflict with European law.
According to the Court, it does not matter whether the loan can be waived if the refugee does manage to integrate within three years. The Court also states that European law opposes punishing a refugee with a fine simply because he did not manage to integrate in a timely manner. The financial burden is too high and should only be imposed in exceptional cases.
The Court also states that European rules do allow for integration courses to be made compulsory in order to learn the language and culture. The Court also believes that there can be an obligation to pass such an integration exam. But this must be carried out in a reasonable manner. This means taking into account the special needs and circumstances of refugees, considering, amongst others, age, level of education, their financial circumstances or health.
Our client was assisted in this case by lawyer Eva Bezem.
Link to the judgment can be found here.