Mark Klaassen speaks at event to mark the 20th anniversary of EU Family Reunification Directive
On 17 November 2023, Dr Mark Klaassen participated in a seminar commemorating the 20th anniversary of the EU Family Reunification Directive. The event, initiated by Dr Karen Geertsema and Professor Tineke Strik, was hosted by the Centre for Migration Law at Radboud University in Nijmegen.
In his presentation, Klaassen examined the implementation of the Family Reunification Directive into Dutch immigration law, revealing a surprising progression. Despite the initial assertion that national law already aligned with the Directive before its implementation, over the years, the Netherlands has become the leading Member State in referring questions for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union on the interpretation of the Directive. Through the Court's judgments, the Family Reunification Directive has had, and still has, a profound impact on the right to family reunification in the Netherlands.
The full programme of the seminar can be found here.