On February 25, 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that citizens of other member states may be denied certain social benefits during their first three months of residence outside their home state. According to the press release, the case involved a Spanish family, who had moved to Germany in 2012. While the mother had been able to find work soon thereafter, and had been compulsorily affiliated to German social security, the father who arrived a few weeks later was denied subsistence benefits for him and the son traveling with him. Authorities cited the German Social Code’s provision which denies benefits for the first three months of residence in Germany. The Court found this procedure to be compatible with EU law, noting that the Citizenship Directive grants EU citizens the right “to reside in another Member State for a period of up to three months without any conditions or any formalities other than the requirement to hold a valid identity card or passport.” As member states cannot require EU nationals to prove they “have sufficient means of subsistence and personal medical cover for that period,” they are entitled to refuse social benefits in order to ensure the “financial equilibrium of their social assistance systems.” The Court further found that member states are not required to individually assess every applicant’s situation and concluded that the refusal to pay benefits did not violate any EU laws.