Il desiderio di “vivere insieme” e il mancato diritto al ricongiungimento familiare per i cittadini europei “statici” alla luce del caso Dereci

The “wish to live together” with the family and the denial of the right to family reunification for “static” European citizens in the light of Dereci judgment. In 2011 the Court of Justice of the European Union defined the scope of the Treaty provisions concerning European citizenship, as regards some questions relating to the right of residence of those third-country nationals who are related to “static” European citizens. The case Ruiz Zambrano paved the way, when the Court first recognized, according to Article 20 TFEU, the right of a third-country citizen to obtain the right of residence in the State where his two sons – both European citizens – lived. The Court’s position stated in this case does not seem to be contradicted from the cases that followed, that clarify the exceptional character of the Ruiz Zambrano ruling. A clear sign in this sense was given by the McCarthy and, above all, by the Dereci rulings. The latter clearly shows that the main question was if the “wish” of the applicants in the main proceedings “to live with” their family members, who are European Union citizens may be protected in the European Union. To answer this question the Court narrows the scope of the criteria based on the privation of the “genuine enjoyment of the substance of the rights” conferred by virtue of the status of European citizenship. At the same time the Court shows the implication of this question with the protection of fundamental rights. This work investigates whether and in which cases the “right of residence” of third-country nationals and the “right to respect family life” may be protected in the European Union, with a particular focus on the improvements and limits of the recent EU case law.