Case registered before the CJEU under C-761/25.
Yu. M., a national of Ukraine and her daughter E.M., were granted temporary protection in Bulgaria, valid until 4 March 2026. E.M. is a minor who has been enrolled in the eight grade for the school year 2025/2026 at a vocational secondary school in Varna. By application t of 17 July 2025, the applicant Yu. M. requested the Director of the ‘Social Assistance’ Directorate, Varna (‘the Director’) to be granted a one-off benefit for pupils enrolled in eighth grade, pursuant to the Law on family benefits for children (‘the ZSPD’),
By decision of 24 July 2025, the Director rejected the request to grant that one-off family benefit, holding that family members had Ukrainian nationality and that Bulgaria was not bound by any other law or international agreement as a contracting party which provided for their entitlement to such a benefit. Yu. M. requested the annulment of the refusal before the Administrative Court of Varna.
The applicant disputed that the Director was unlawful because the fact of relying on Article 3(5) of the ZSPD was contrary to Articles 2, 3 and 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which should have been directly applied pursuant to Article 5(4) of the Constitution and Article 3(5) of the ZSPD disregarded. The Director argued that the refusal was correct on the basis of Article 3(5) of the ZSPD, which provides that foreign nationals and their families are entitled to family benefits for children if two cumulative conditions are satisfied: (i) they are permanently resident and care for the children within the national territory, and (ii) entitlement to such benefits is provided for in another law or in an international agreement by which the Republic of Bulgaria is bound as a contracting party. The Director found that in the absence of such agreement between the two States which provides for the granting of such benefits, the applicants were not entitled to it, but only to emergency aid and support in the cases expressly provided for by the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), which was not the case here.
The Administrative Court of Varna decided to stay the proceedings and to seek guidance from the CJEU on interpretation of EU law by submitting the following questions for a preliminary ruling:
- Are Articles 3(2), 13(2) and 14(1) of Directive 2001/55/EC, read in conjunction with recital 16 thereof and the purpose of that directive as defined in Article 1, to be interpreted as meaning that a Member State which grants to persons under 18 years of age enjoying temporary protection access to the education system is also required to grant to their families access to one-off family benefits for children – including the benefit provided for in Article 10b(1) of the Law on family benefits for children (‘the ZSPD’), which is intended to encourage the continuation of school education – even where no other law or international agreement expressly provides for such entitlement?
- Are Article 21(1) and (2), Article 24(1) and (2), and Article 34(1) and (2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, read in conjunction with Articles 13(2) and 14(1) of the Temporary Protection Directive, to be interpreted as precluding national legislation, such as Article 3(5) of the ZSPD, which restricts entitlement to the family benefit provided for in Article 10b(1) of the ZSPD for third-country nationals enjoying temporary protection where no other law and no international agreement by which Bulgaria is bound as a contracting party expressly provides for such entitlement?
The Administrative Court of Varna considered that the case concerned the question whether the benefits governed by the ZSPD, particularly those provided for in Article 10b of the ZSPD, are to be considered as part of the system of social assistance to which persons enjoying temporary protection have access. The court answered on the affirmative, finding that access to benefits for persons enjoying temporary protection under the TPD must include family benefits for children pursuant to the ZSPD, specifically the one-off benefit for eighth-grade pupils provided for in Article 10b(1) of the ZSPD.
National courts concurred in finding that families of children who are beneficiaries of temporary protection in Bulgaria are eligible for this benefit for children. As an example, the referring court cited judgment No 9028 of the Administrative Court of Burgas adopted on 22 October 2025, according to which ‘since family benefits for children are an element of social assistance, it may be assumed that the restriction in Article 3(5) of the ZSPD is not applicable to foreign nationals to whom protection has been granted pursuant to the Law on Asylum and Refugees (ZUB)’. Similarly, it referenced the judgment No 311 of the Administrative Court of Dobrich, of 12 July 2023, where the latter stated that: ‘Family benefits for children under the ZSPD … are granted in view of the costs of providing for the children and are an expression of the social function of the State, which has an obligation to support the care of children by parents and caregivers within the family environment … and to ensure their wellbeing … . … Children enjoying temporary protection must not be put in a less favourable position than other children (nationals of the Republic of Bulgaria, foreign nationals with refugee status or humanitarian status, foreign nationals with long-term or permanent leave to remain in the Republic of Bulgaria, foreign nationals to whom asylum has been granted and persons in respect of whom that is provided for in an international agreement by which the Republic of Bulgaria is bound as a contracting party).’