THE RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT FOR SPOUSES AND REGISTERED PARTNERS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

• Main Author: Eglė Kurelaitytė
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mykolas Romeris University 2021-08-01
• Series: Jurisprudencija
• Subjects: free movement; spouse; registered partner; eu; directive 2004/38/ec
• Online Access: https://ojs.mruni.eu/ojs/jurisprudence/article/view/6618
• ISSN: 1392-6195; 2029-2058

The problems of rights regarding free movement for spouses and registered partners are analysed in the context of the possible limits which can be imposed by the provisions of national law. After a brief analysis of the general grounds for imposing limits on these rights, it is stated that the implementation of the internal market and the growing importance of the provisions of European Union citizenship in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice mean less discretion for national law provisions to interrupt the enforcement of these rights. Consequently, in EU law the grounds for limiting rights to free movement for spouses are constructed narrowly, resulting in all spouses having equal rights to free movement even in national legal systems which have no provisions on same-sex marriages (or even Constitutional limits, as in the case of Lithuania). The implementation of rights to free movement for registered partners is more problematic, despite the somewhat narrow discretion of the state in this field. Even though there are two types of legal regime for registered partners, in all cases national laws have narrow discretion to impose limits on them. It is argued that partners have a right to family reunification while implementing Directive 2004/38 in Lithuania with accordance to recent developments in the constitutional doctrine.