Comments on the European Commission´s Green Paper on the right of family reunification of third-country nationals living in the European Union (Directive 2003/86/EC) COM (2011) 735final

Introduction

Our organisations represent Churches throughout Europe – Anglican, Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic – as well as Christian agencies particularly concerned with migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. As Christian organisations we are deeply committed to the inviolable dignity of the human person created in the image of God, the freedom of every human being, as well as to the common good, global solidarity and the promotion of a society that welcomes strangers.

Churches are attaching highest importance to marriage and the family, the social conditions enabling family life and the international, European and national legal frameworks connected to the possibility of founding a family and living as a family, as the family is “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” (Art. 16.3 UDHR) . Our organisations actively contributed to the negotiations on Directive 2003/86/EC. Our members have been continuously involved in monitoring the transposition of the directive into national law and are confronted with the consequences of the directive in their day-to-day work - be it in officiating weddings and other ceremonies involving third country nationals, be it in providing legal advice to those seeking family reunification or addressing the social impact of separation of the members of a family. We therefore welcome the opportunity to share our observations and concerns related to the current directive, its transposition and implementation and to highlight some aspects for much-needed improvement of member states´ legislation and practice.

As to the means to achieve such improvement, both options (clarification and correct application of the existing directive or new legislation) proposed by the Commission could in principle generate many of the needed results. Given that eight years have elapsed since the adoption of the directive without a satisfactory degree of harmonisation of practice, we would however encourage the Commission to opt for a plan of action which would in the very near future lead to more factual harmonisation of the right to family reunification and correct implementation of existing legislation by member states.

Click here <to read the European Commission's 'Green Paper on the right to family reunification of third-country nationals living in the European Union (Directive 2003/86/EC)'.

To read this statement in its entirety, please see the pdf below.

Joint ST: Comments on the European Commission´s Green Paper on the right of family reunification of third-country nationals living in the European Union (89.8 KB)