• EN - English
Parliamentary question - P-010383/2014Parliamentary question
P-010383/2014

Lack of residency for minors

Question for written answer P-010383-14
to the Council
Rule 130
Daniel Hannan (ECR)

A family of five with full British passports has contacted me to raise an issue. The parents are registered as resident in The Hague (Netherlands). The three children attend boarding school in the UK for 8 months a year. The school in the UK required the children to get European Health Cards (EHICs) for school trips.

The UK health authorities told the parents in 2012 that they needed to apply for the cards in the Netherlands because children under 18 are considered to be resident in the same place as their parents. The Dutch authorities issued the cards in January 2013.

The Dutch authorities contacted the family in September 2014 to let them know that they did not consider the children to be resident in the Netherlands because they spend 8 months per year abroad, and that their age was irrelevant. The UK authorities reconfirmed that they consider the children to be resident in the same place as their parents.

1. Is the Council aware of similar cases in which EU citizens are not considered to be resident in any Member State, even though they do not live outside the EU, due to differing national rules?

2. Does the Council plan to coordinate national legislation to resolve this issue, and other such issues in the future?