Does my EEA partner require CSI to get PR if I'm an EEA worker

Question

Since the Brexit vote it became widely known that, as an EEA citizen, to obtain a Permanent Residence in the UK you either have to be in the Worker or Self-Employed categories. If you are "only" a Student or Self-Sufficient, then you not only need to live in the country for five years to be eligible, but you also need to have Comprehensive Sickness Insurance (CSI).

Apparently based on multiple sources if you're a British citizen, and you have an EEA citizen partner, who is either a Student or Self-Sufficient, then they need to have CSI, otherwise they won't be able to obtain a PR, even if you yourself are working.

However I couldn't really find a definite answer on what happens if you are a non-British EEA citizen, who is working (so doesn't need CSI), whether your partner would still need to have CSI, or whether the fact that you are working covers them in this regard. The application form for PR seems to imply that you working is enough, but that looks a bit weird, because if I would be a British citizen it wouldn't.

Answer 1

The CSI requirement arises from Article 7 of Directive 2004/38/EC (emphasis added):

Article 7

Right of residence for more than three months

1.  All Union citizens shall have the right of residence on the territory of another Member State for a period of longer than three months if they:

(a) are workers or self-employed persons in the host Member State; or

(b) have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence and have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State; or

(c)  

— are enrolled at a private or public establishment, accredited or financed by the host Member State on the basis of its legislation or administrative practice, for the principal purpose of following a course of study, including vocational training; and

— have comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State and assure the relevant national authority, by means of a declaration or by such equivalent means as they may choose, that they have sufficient resources for themselves and their family members not to become a burden on the social assistance system of the host Member State during their period of residence; or

(d) are family members accompanying or joining a Union citizen who satisfies the conditions referred to in points (a), (b) or (c).

You are covered under (a), and your partner is covered under (d). Neither of these points mentions CSI, which applies only to students (c) and the self-sufficient (b).

I suspect that the reason for an EEA family member of a British citizen requiring CSI is that such people are held to be covered by item (b) if they don't fall under (a) or (c). I tried to figure it out by reading the The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, but it's more complicated than I have time for at the moment.