The movement and residence rights of third country national family members of EU citizens: a historical and jurisprudential approach
Granting family residence rights to third country national EU family members is a controversial issue that has been the object of a lively debate, especially in recent years. The debate has been particularly focused on the role played by the Court of Justice of the European Union in deciding cases involving EU citizens and their third country national family members. The Court has been criticized for inconsistent judgments and providing a lack of legal certainty. The object of this thesis is to analyse the intricate jurisprudential scenario of family reunifications between EU citizens and third country nationals. In order to do so I will place the Court’s case law in its broader historical context. Through my analysis, I will show how the phenomenon of family reunification between EU citizens and third country nationals is the fruit of a development that, starting from the legislation of the first post World War II era reached its climax in the more recent judgments of the CJEU. Using a historical prospective, I will outline that the original meaning of the first family reunification legislative provisions, their more recent CJEU interpretation and the new application of the concept of EU citizenship find their ground on specific trends that have characterized the process of European integration for years. I will look in particular at the development of the Common Market project, focused on eliminating obstacles that would hinder the right of free movement of workers and at the strengthening of the rights deriving from the EU citizenship status. I will also show how since the oil economic crises these two currents begun to clash with the stricter immigration policies adopted by some Member States. I will argue that the approach of the Court can be better appreciated when placed at the interplay of this clash.
JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration, JZ International relations, K Law
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