Immigration Barristers' Blog

The Migration Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has approved a position paper on reform of the EU Family Reunification Directive.

Chair of the Committee, Giacomo Santini, said “Family reunification is an important element of the right to family life and an essential part of the integration process for migrants.”

“The committee in its position paper has clearly stated that while the Family Reunification Directive has provided a sound basis for clarifying and promoting family reunification and represents a minimum standard, there are improvements which could be made. However, any attempts by states to water down the minimum standards in the current Directive, should be rejected by the European Commission outright.”

Mr Santini explained that the position paper on family reunification approved by the Migration Committee was based on a number of concerns the Assembly had already raised back in its Recommendation 1686 (2004) on human mobility and the right to family reunification.

Some of the concerns include the lack of a common definition of family reunification, the extensive possibilities for states to derogate or opt for alternative measures, the strictness of certain measures adopted by states which make family reunification difficult or impossible for certain persons and the lack of recognition, for family reunification, of persons granted subsidiary protection.

Mr Santini concluded by saying: “These matters all need careful attention by the Commission taking careful note of the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights and its case-law.”

The European Commission has launched a public debate on the right to family reunification of third-country nationals living in the EU. Depending on the outcome of the consultation, the Commission will decide whether any policy follow-up is necessary – such as setting up clear guidelines, modifying the current rules or leaving the legislation as it is.

According to data available, in the early 2000s, family migration seemed to make up more than 50% of the total legal immigration. Today, this share has fallen to about one third of all immigration to the EU. The share is even smaller when singling out the migrants targeted by the family reunification Directive (i.e. only third-country nationals joining non-EU citizens): 21% of the overall permits are released to this category of migrants, comprising roughly 500.000 people in 2010. During this year, Italy issued the most family related permits for third county nationals joining non-EU citizens (160,200), followed by the UK (103,187) and Spain (89,905).

Non-EU citizens who are family members of legally residing third-country nationals have the right to enter and reside in the EU if the sponsor has resided "for one year or more" with "reasonable prospects of obtaining the right of permanent residence". Member States may require the fulfilment of other conditions such as sufficient resources, adequate accommodation and sickness insurance, as well as "integration measures".

The consultation focuses on a number of questions arising from the application of the family reunification Directive, including:

•To whom the directive should apply: How to best define the migrants who benefit from the EU rules; whether the right to family reunification should be extended to other family members, outside than the core family; the problems experienced with forced marriages;
•The conditions for family reunification: Whether the integration measures that Member States are allowed to introduce need to be further specified; whether safeguards should be foreseen to ensure that such measures really foster integration and are not used as barriers to family reunification;
•Ways of tackling possible fraud and marriages of convenience;
•The functioning of certain obligations for Member States, such as taking the best interest of children into account when examining an application.

The Commission intends to organise a public hearing after it has received written contributions.