“Une photo de famille”

Snapshot of the CJEU Analysis of the Concepts of Family Life and Spouse

Abstract

Starting out from essential state functions anchored in Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the European Union to protect constitutional identity, this paper will endeavour to examine a judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union in June 2018. Within the context of free movement, the Coman case raises questions, also with reference to the prohibition of discrimination, to the CJEU on the application of EU law in terms of the notions of family life, family and family member under Directive 2004/38/EC. Beyond the standpoint of the Court in this case, we shall also overview those public law frames within the EU law that exist in relation to the concept of family (rules of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and of other relevant directives), and the pertinent provisions of Romanian Member State law will also be addressed, including the relevant most recent decision of the Romanian Constitutional Court delivered in 2018, not in relation to the case discussed herein.