ABSTRACT

Levin v Staatssecretaris van Justitie Case 53/81 L was a British national, living in the Netherlands and married to a national from a non-EC country. She was refused a permit to reside in the Netherlands on the grounds that she had not been in employment for the requisite year before her application. She appealed against that decision in the Dutch courts, arguing that she had sufficient income and that she had taken up part time employment as a chambermaid. The Court sought a preliminary ruling from the ECJ as to whether a person who earned below the subsistence level (as defined by Dutch legislation) could be a ‘worker’ within the meaning of Article 39 EC (ex 48) of the Treaty.