Family Life and the Best Interests of the Child in the Field of Migration

The focus of this chapter is on the right to family life and the best interests of the child in the field of migration, and specifically on the Family Reunification Directive. The question interrogated is whether and to what extent the Court of Justice of the EU relies on fundamental rights in giving shape and meaning to the directive. Following a brief overview of the main lines of scholarly analysis and State practice relating to the directive, and an exposition of the international human rights benchmark relating to family life and the best interests of the child, the chapter critically analyses the burgeoning case-law of the CJEU on the directive from a fundamental rights perspective, beginning with the influential European Parliament v Council judgment and culminating in the most recent preliminary references. The key finding is that the Court is ambiguous about the role that fundamental rights should play in this contested policy area.