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Civil Society's call for correct implementation of EU law on family reunification

19. 6. 12

Source: migrationonline.cz

On May 15 2012 was published a joint statement calling on the European Commission to “stop turning a blind eye to the fact that a series of Member States are not complying with the EU’s Family Reunification Directive” was published. The statement has currently (beginning of June 2012) support of over 70 organisations.

Less than 15 days after the publication of the Civil Society’s joint statement, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, has announced that the Commission will monitor closely the implementation of the Directive in Member States and will ensure its correct implementation by starting infringement procedures where necessary or by issuing interpretative guidelines.

This announcement was delivered on the occasion of the public hearing on “The Right to Family Reunification of Third Country Nationals living in the EU” organised by the European Integration Forum (EIF) (31 May – 1 June 2012).

General conclusions and discussions of the participants at the public hearing lead to the following points

Integration measures should not be used as conditions that hamper the process of family reunification.
Some Member States do not take into account the best interests of children and are denying family reunification by not respecting the principles of effectivity and proportionality.
Member States must comply with the judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU stressing that excessive fees imposed on migrants are disproportionate and go against the right to family reunification in the Directive.
Refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection have the same protection needs and deserve same treatment with regards to family reunification.
Member states must stop exaggerating the number of cases of abuse and the means used to tackle them.

The statement is accessible here

The article is based on the "Civil Society's call for correct implementation of EU law on family reunification gets quick support from Commission" from Caritas Europa website.

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