On residence permits for family members of EU staff who are not nationals of an EU Member State  

The petitioner states that EU staff members and members of their family are issued residence permits by the host Member State or Member State of establishment or of employment in the form of a special identity card which serves to make it easier to prove this status upon entry and during their stay in the Member State concerned. Possession of that identity card precludes the issuing of a residence card to family members from third countries pursuant to Article 10 of Directive 2004/38/EC. In the case of a private journey to another sovereign territory, family members from third countries who are only able to present said identity card are not exempt from any visa requirements. This problem does not arise if EU staff live with their families in a State other than the issuing State or a State which applies the Directive or if the state of establishment is a third country and all of them live within the territory of the Union or in a State which applies the Directive. There is no objective justification for such differences. In the petitioner’s view, there is a need for a uniform, EU-wide regulation.