Abstract

Immigration is omnipresent in current political, legal and, more broadly, societal debates. In industrialised Europe, the multiple challenges linked to immigration are objects of passionate struggles. The stakes are high in adequately addressing the demands by would-be migrants to access the territory, the labour market, the welfare provisions or the political membership of a given political community. The result of a doctoral thesis, the present book tackles the legal and philosophical challenges linked to family reunification and economic immigration to the European Union. It provides a detailed analysis of the legal regime created by the Lisbon treaty on the common European immigration policy and thoroughly challenges its foundations by highlighting the moral tensions it entails, not least with respect to the values and principles upon which the EU is built. The original contribution of this book is three-fold : a new methodological approach linking legal analysis and political philosophy, a focus on the European immigration regime and the resources the EU has to offer in facing immigration challenges and an outline of republican ethics related to immigration. Overall, the present work aims to provide insights on how the EU immigration regime could be reformed to be more consistent with the EU's founding values and principles. It is of primary relevance to legal and philosophical scholars working on issues of immigration, the political theory of the EU and republicanism. Most importantly, it also provides political decision-makers with clearly argued reform proposals.