EIRP Proceedings, Vol 7 (2012)

Abstract

The paper aims to establish the character of the right to family reunification and to bring together all the situations in which a Member State of the European Union is “forced” to asses the application for the family reunification with a third-country national, in accordance with the EU law, both primary and secondary, incident in the case at hand. The family reunification, as the most important form of migration in the European Union, was subject to previous research, research that was conducted only at a sectored level. Therefore, the “puzzle pieces” must be put together and a “whole picture” conclusion is necessary. It will be submitted that family reunification right, although derives from a fundamental human right – the right for respect of family life, its effects depend majorly on the specific factual and legal situation of the ‘beneficiary’ of such a fundamental right.