ABSTRACT
The way in which citizens of the EU experience day-to-day family life may, at first consideration, seem quite far removed from the interest of the Union, with its historically-entrenched preoccupation with economic objectives and supranational structure. Of course, as the contributions to this volume demonstrate, EU law and policy in actual fact impact on family life in a myriad of ways and have implications for a number of different policy areas that can help shape family experiences. This chapter considers two such significant areas of EU law and policy: reconciliation of work and family life and free movement of persons. These areas have the potential to impact in a grounded, practical sense on the lives of Union citizens. To this extent, whilst family members of EU migrant workers have traditionally been afforded important entitlements under Union secondary legislation, and the CJEU has further enhanced the available protection through its interpretive role, there has also been developed a distinct body of law and policy that endeavours to facilitate a better balance between work and family life within the EU.
