Abstract
This study [1] aims to compare national policies and / or practices on family reunification between the different EU Member States plus Norway, and to provide up-to-date information on the latest developments in this area of legal migration to Europe since 2011 onwards. The study further aims to provide comparable data on the scale of family reunification in the EU28 plus Norway at present, as well as over time (2011-2015 and 2016 where available), supplementing available Eurostat data with national statistics where available.
The right to family reunification in the EU has remained one of the most important channels of legal migration in the EU over the last few years. At present, family reunification accounts for nearly one third of all arrivals of TCNs in Europe. Whilst this right is currently subject to a common framework, mainly provided through the Family Reunification Directive (and its ‘shall’ clauses), it is simultaneously dependent on a certain degree of discretion provided by the Directive (‘may’ clauses). This has resulted in both commonalities and differences between (Member) States’ policies and practices on family reunification.
See also:
- Family reunification of non-EU nationals in Ireland
- Family Reunification of Third-Country Nationals in the EU plus Norway: National Practices: EMN Inform
[1] This Synthesis Report was prepared on the basis of National Contributions from 26 EMN NCPs (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Norway)
