Jun
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Parliament v Council [2006]
June 26, 2007 |
On 22 September 2003 the Council adopted the Directive 2003/86/EC which determine the conditions for the exercise of the right to family reunification by nationals of non-member States residing lawfully in the territory of the Member States. The directive provides in particular that a national of a non-member State lawfully living in the EU is in principle entitled to bring his/her children to join him/her by way of family reunification. The directive nevertheless allows Member States in certain circumstances to apply national legislation derogating from the rules that apply in principle.
The European Parliament took the view that several provisions are contrary to fundamental rights, in particular the right to respect for family life and the right to non discrimination. Because of that it brought an action for annulment before the ECJ.
As examples of such provisions we can mention: the possibility for Member States to verify whether a child, who arrives independently from the rest of his/her family, meets an integration condition; or the possibility of the Member States to defer family reunification for two or, as the case may be, three years.
However after a very intense analyze and after making the first referral to the EU Charter, the ECJ ruled that the Community legislature did not exceed the limits imposed by fundamental rights in permitting Member States which had, or wished to adopt, specific legislation to adjust certain aspects of the right to family reunification.
The ECJ therefore dismissed the action.
Text of the ECJ judgment
Text of the AG opinion
Comments
5 Comments so far
I think you mean it was the Court’s first reference to the Charter, not to the ECHR.
It is also the first time the ECJ is referring to the European Charter in one of its judgement:
38. The Charter was solemnly proclaimed by the Parliament, the Council and the Commission in Nice on 7 December 2000. While the Charter is not a legally binding instrument, the Community legislature did, however, acknowledge its importance by stating, in the second recital in the preamble to the Directive, that the Directive observes the principles recognised not only by Article 8 of the ECHR but also in the Charter. Furthermore, the principal aim of the Charter, as is apparent from its preamble, is to reaffirm ‘rights as they result, in particular, from the constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the Member States, the Treaty on European Union, the Community Treaties, the [ECHR], the Social Charters adopted by the Community and by the Council of Europe and the case-law of the Court … and of the European Court of Human Rights’.
Thank you very much for your comments. I made a little amendment to the post. I wanted to write EU Charter but probably I was too tired when I wrote it. It will not happen again….
I wonder if there is another case (than Parliament v/Council, of June 27, 2006 C540/03) where the ECJ is referring to the European Charter in one of its judgement. I couldn’t find it yet! Thank you very much for your help
Really interesting blog, pleasure to read.
Keep up the good work.