ABSTRACT
A survey of the case-law of the European Court of Justice devoted to the interpretation of 'family life' involving EC nationals is illuminating: all kinds of arrangements between married people involving living together and apart are being granted the protection of family life and thus family reunification. The right to family reunification with Third Country Nationals (TCNs) is usually formulated in restrictive provisions, unsuitable to guarantee non-discrimination between TCNs and EC nationals. Thus, family ties and love relations among TCNs that are denied admission under EC law, may still fall under the protection of the fundamental rights defined in the Convention. EC law has understood cross-border relations of love and attachment between people and a fortiori family reunification as the repository of technical rules which affect but formal, non-substantive dimensions of intimate relations. However, ultimately EC law claims to be based on social justice and moreover, social justice as a fundamental right.
