This request for a preliminary ruling was made in the context of a dispute concerning the exclusion of third-country nationals from the benefit of a card granted to families giving the possibility to obtain discounts or reductions in the price of goods and services. By letter of 31 March 2020, ASGI and two other associations asked the family policies department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers that the regulations relating to the family card be set aside as they excluded beneficiaries of international protection. As their request went unanswered, the applicants brought proceedings before the Tribunal of Milan, the referring court, by means of a special procedure applicable to disputes relating to discrimination.

The referring court asked the CJEU whether Article 11(1)(d) or Article 11(1)(f) of Directive 2003/109, Article 12 (1)(e) or Article 12(1)(g) of Directive 2011/98, Article 14(1)(e), or Article 14(1)(g) of Directive 2009/50 and Article 29 of Directive 2011/95 must be interpreted as being opposed to a regulation of a Member State which excludes the nationals of third countries covered by these directives from the benefit of a family card allowing to obtain discounts or reductions when purchasing goods and services provided by public or private entities having concluded an agreement with the government of that Member State.

The CJEU concluded that the exclusion of beneficiaries of international protection from benefiting from the family card, in so far as it deprives them of access to these goods and services as well as their supply in the same conditions as those enjoyed by Italian nationals, constitutes unequal treatment contrary to EU law.