This book provides a comprehensive analysis of EU legislation in the area of legal migration. Five Directives on family reunification, long-term residence, students, researchers and highly qualified migrants are critically assessed. Moreover, the implementation of the Directives in three member states (Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) and national legislation in two Member States with an opt-out from EU migration law (the UK and Netherlands) are assessed. This includes national rules on the integration of third-country nationals and access to citizenship. The book calls into question the compliance of several European and national provision with EU principals of law and international human rights.

This book is a reflection of the social reality of mass migration in the EU from a legal perspective. It consists of a collection of essays reflecting on important current issues including the scope of the powers allocated to the EU, the cooperation of the EU with third countries and the emergence of international migration legal norms.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of EU legislation in the area of legal migration. Five Directives on family reunification, long-term residence, students, researchers and highly qualified migrants are critically assessed. Moreover, the implementation of the Directives in three Member States (Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) and national legislation in two Member States with an opt-out from EU migration law (the UK and Netherlands) are assessed. This includes national rules on the integration of third-country nationals and access to citizenship. The book calls into question the compliance of several European and national provisions with EU principles of law and international human rights.

The harmonization of the different European legal systems has reached the field of asylum and immigration policy. The Maastricht Treaty has established the legal basis for a common migration policy. Numerous resolutions, recommendations, joint positions and actions were adopted by the EU Council based on the `third pillar' in the Maastricht Treaty. Within the `first pillar' the European Community has enacted regulations on visa policy based on Art. 100c EC - Treaty. Additionally, several agreements with third countries on immigration issues were set into force. Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy of the European Union comprehensively describes the present state of the harmonization process concerning migration policy in the European Union. Particular emphasis is laid on the legal status of third-country nationals with regard to entry and residence. Furthermore, the gaps within EU regulations are evaluated in an attempt to search for a homogenous European migration policy.

More than a decade has passed since the appearance of the first issue of the European Journal of Migration and Law, which was established to examine the intertwining of issues of law and migration in the EU. This volume has been compiled to celebrate that anniversary. The journal itself is the basis for the book: authors who have written the most significant contributions for the journal on the relevant issues to the Area of Freedom Security and Justice (AFSJ) have revised and updated their articles in light of current developments. These are supplemented with new chapters on issues which have turned out to be particularly important to the development of the field. The success of the journal has demonstrated the need for informed, independent academic research on the changing nature of immigration and asylum in Europe, and this volume too seeks to meet that need. It offers a unqiue and lively collection of essays covering the field of EU immigration and asylum law from a variety of perspectives.

Large-scale migration constitutes an unavoidable social reality within the European Union. A European polity is made possible and tangible by the individual acts of migrants crossing the internal borders, developing a transnational life and integrating into European societies. Consequently, migration has become a special feature of the self-understanding of the European Union: its existence depends upon a continuing flow of persons crossing the borders of the Member States, and also upon the management of the flows of third-country nationals knocking at its doors. To respond to this challenge, the Union has developed common European migration policies. This book is a collection of essays which aim to explore a selected number of issues related to the development of these policies. It presents the current state, and the future of European immigration law discussing the political rationales and legal competences driving the action of the Union in this area. It reflects on the cooperation of the Union with third countries and on the emergence of international migration legal norms. It illustrates the role of the European Courts and the emergence of new actors through the adoption of EU instruments.