1) This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Articles 20 and 21 TFEU and of Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

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7) According to Article 7 of the Charter, everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and communications.

8) Article 24(2) of the Charter provides:

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2. In all actions relating to children, whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the child’s best interests must be a primary consideration. …’

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23) Moreover, the Raad van State (Council of State) expresses the preliminary view that the Netherlands legislature did not act arbitrarily in adopting Article 15(1)(c) of the Law on Nationality and that, accordingly, it did not infringe Article 7 of the Charter on the right to respect for private and family life.

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25) As regards the situation of minors, the referring court states that Article 16(1)(d) of the Law on Nationality shows the importance that the national legislature has attached to unity of nationality within the family. In that context, the referring court asks whether it is proportionate to deprive a minor of citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto purely for the sake of preserving unity of nationality within the family, and the extent to which the child’s best interests within the meaning of Article 24(2) of the Charter are set to play a role in that regard. The referring court notes that a child who is a minor has little influence on the retention of his or her Netherlands nationality, and that the possibilities for interrupting certain periods of time or obtaining, for instance, a declaration regarding the possession of Netherlands nationality are not grounds for exception in the case of minors. Consequently, the referring court takes the view that it is not clearly established whether or not Article 16(1)(d) of the Law on Nationality is consistent with the principle of proportionality.

26) In those circumstances, the Raad van State (Council of State) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling:

‘Must Articles 20 and 21 TFEU, in the light of, inter alia, Article 7 of the [Charter], be interpreted — in view of the absence of an individual assessment, based on the principle of proportionality, with regard to the consequences of the loss of nationality for the situation of the person concerned from the point of view of EU law — as precluding legislation such as that in issue in the main proceedings, which provides:

(1) that an adult, who is also a national of a third country, loses, by operation of law, the nationality of his or her Member State, and consequently loses citizenship of the Union, on the ground that, for an uninterrupted period of 10 years, that person had his or her principal residence abroad and outside the [Union], although there are possibilities for interrupting that 10-year period;

(2) that under certain circumstances a minor loses, by operation of law, the nationality of his or her Member State, and consequently loses citizenship of the Union, as a consequence of the loss of the nationality of his or her parent, as referred to under (1) …?’

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27) By its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Articles 20 and 21 TFEU, read in the light of Article 7 of the Charter, must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides under certain conditions for the loss of the nationality of that Member State by operation of law, which entails, in the case of persons who are not also nationals of another Member State, the loss of their citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto without an individual examination, based on the principle of proportionality, of the consequences of that loss for the situation of those persons from the point of view of EU law.

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45) As part of that examination of proportionality, it is, in particular, for the competent national authorities and, where appropriate, for the national courts to ensure that the loss of nationality is consistent with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter, the observance of which the Court ensures, and specifically the right to respect for family life as stated in Article 7 of the Charter, that article requiring to be read in conjunction with the obligation to take into consideration the best interests of the child, recognised in Article 24(2) of the Charter (judgment of 10 May 2017, Chavez-Vilchez and Others, C‑133/15, EU:C:2017:354, paragraph 70).

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47) As for minors, the competent administrative and judicial authorities must also take into account, in the context of their individual examination, possible circumstances from which it is apparent that the loss of Netherlands nationality by the minor concerned, which the national legislature has attached to the loss of Netherlands nationality by one of his or her parents in order to preserve unity of nationality within the family, fails to meet the child’s best interests as enshrined in Article 24 of the Charter because of the consequences of that loss for the minor from the point of view of EU law.

48) In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred is that Article 20 TFEU, read in the light of Articles 7 and 24 of the Charter, must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides under certain conditions for the loss, by operation of law, of the nationality of that Member State, which entails, in the case of persons who are not also nationals of another Member State, the loss of their citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto, in so far as the competent national authorities, including national courts where appropriate, are in a position to examine, as an ancillary issue, the consequences of the loss of that nationality and, where appropriate, to have the persons concerned recover their nationality ex tunc in the context of an application by those persons for a travel document or any other document showing their nationality. In the context of that examination, the authorities and the courts must determine whether the loss of the nationality of the Member State concerned, when it entails the loss of citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto, has due regard to the principle of proportionality so far as concerns the consequences of that loss for the situation of each person concerned and, if relevant, for that of the members of their family, from the point of view of EU law.

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50) Since these proceedings are, for the parties to the main proceedings, a step in the action pending before the national court, the decision on costs is a matter for that court. Costs incurred in submitting observations to the Court, other than the costs of those parties, are not recoverable.

On those grounds, the Court (Grand Chamber) hereby rules:

Article 20 TFEU, read in the light of Articles 7 and 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides under certain conditions for the loss, by operation of law, of the nationality of that Member State, which entails, in the case of persons who are not also nationals of another Member State, the loss of their citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto, in so far as the competent national authorities, including national courts where appropriate, are in a position to examine, as an ancillary issue, the consequences of the loss of that nationality and, where appropriate, to have the persons concerned recover their nationality ex tunc in the context of an application by those persons for a travel document or any other document showing their nationality. In the context of that examination, the authorities and the courts must determine whether the loss of the nationality of the Member State concerned, when it entails the loss of citizenship of the Union and the rights attaching thereto, has due regard to the principle of proportionality so far as concerns the consequences of that loss for the situation of each person concerned and, if relevant, for that of the members of their family, from the point of view of EU law.