European Parliament v. Coucil of the European Union , Case C-540/03, CJEU, 27 June 2006

Action for annulment of the provisions of the Directive on family reunification (2003/86/EC) which, by derogating from the obligations imposed on the Member States, allows them to apply their own national rules. Alleged infringement of fundamental rights. Not upheld.

Directive 2003/86/EC

1. The European Convention on Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union emphasize the importance of family life for the child and recommend that States take the child's best interests into account, without thereby conferring on family members a subjective right to be admitted to the territory of a State or undermining the discretion of States in considering applications for family reunification.

2. Art. 4 of the Directive on the right to family reunification imposes precise positive obligations on the Member States, to which subjective rights correspond, requiring them, in the cases covered by the Directive, to authorize family reunification of certain relatives of the sponsor without being able to exercise any discretion. This provision cannot be regarded as contrary to the fundamental right to respect for family life, to the obligation to take into account the best interests of the minor child or to the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age, either as such or in so far as it would expressly or implicitly authorize Member States to do so.

3. Art. 4, no. 6, of the directive on the right to family reunification, gives the Member States the right to reserve the application of the family reunification requirements provided for by the directive to applications submitted before minors have reached the age of 15. However, that provision cannot be interpreted as meaning that it would prohibit Member States from considering an application relating to a minor over 15 years of age or authorize them not to do so. It follows that the Member State remains obliged to examine the application made by a minor child over the age of 15 in the interest of that minor and with a view to promoting family life.

4. Art. 8 of Directive 2003/86, relating to the right to family reunification, which authorizes Member States to derogate from the rules on family reunification laid down by the directive itself, does not have the effect of preventing any family reunification, but rather maintains in favor of the Member States a limited margin of discretion, allowing them to ensure that family reunification takes place under favorable conditions, after a sufficiently long period of stay in the host Member State by the sponsor to be able to assume a stable settlement and a certain level of integration. Therefore, the fact that a Member State takes these elements into consideration and the right to defer family reunification for two years does not conflict with the right to respect for family life enshrined, in particular, by art. 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted by the European Court of Human Rights. Consequently, art. 8 of the directive cannot be considered to conflict with the fundamental right to respect for family life or with the obligation to take into account the best interests of the child.