ABSTRACT
Since the inception of free movement, the right of EU citizens to live in the host Member State with their family members has been considered essential for intra-European mobility. Over the past two decades, however, this approach has generated tensions between the EU and the Member States who started to complain about the perceived abuse of family reunification rights. At the centre of their concerns have been the so-called marriages of convenience between mobile EU citizens and third-country nationals, allegedly contracted to help the latter circumvent restrictive national immigration rules. During the years immediately preceding the Brexit referendum, the UK had been particularly vocal about the issue.
This chapter explores how marriages of convenience are defined in EU free movement law and how the relevant provisions are reflected in UK law. It argues that British legislature and courts target a much broader group of couples than those whose circumstances fit the definition of a marriage of convenience under the Citizens Directive, the key instrument in the field. The chapter concludes that such an approach may lead to the disruption of families of EU citizens in the UK, a situation that is expected to further deteriorate after Brexit.
