FAMILY REUNIFICATION OF EUROPEAN COMMUNITY NATIONALS

The right to free movement of EC nationals encompasses their right to be joined by family members and the right of these family members to be integrated into the host Member State by being granted certain rights, such as the right to obtain employment. This paper discusses the nature, beneficiaries, legal bases and scope of the right to family reunification. The discussion offers a detailed analysis of current developments in this area, and provides answers to a number of issues raised by existing Community legislation and case law. Recent trends promulgated by the ECJ’s case law show signs of a changing approach towards family reunification, leading to an acknowledgement of the right to family life as the legal basis for family reunification in cases where movement has occurred, but cannot be used as a basis for applying Community law