Immigrant Council of Ireland: Response to EC Green Paper on Family Reunification

While many difficulties have been identified with the Directive such as incorrect transposition by some Member States and clauses which leave Member States with too much discretion to unfairly restrict family reunification for certain non-EU citizens, the ICI also acknowledges the important and positive role the Directive has played in instituting a right to family reunification in the EU, as well as concise definitions and certain minimum standards on eligibility requirements, application conditions, security of status and rights for reuniting family members. This positive impact is illustrated by the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX), which compares integration policies across 30 countries and which found that that two of the three countries with the least favourablefamily reunification rules of any country in Europe or North America, namely Ireland and Denmark, had opted out of the Directive...Read more