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EMN Germany Conference: Family Reunification - between Human Rights and Migration Management ,
Numerous experts from Germany and abroad attended the EMN Germany Conference at the European House in Berlin.
Source: © BAMF
"Family Reunification – between Human Rights and Migration Management": The European Migration Network Germany (EMN) held a conference on this topic at the European House in Berlin on October 7, 2025. The EMN's national contact point, based at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), invited experts from Germany and abroad to discuss the latest developments, challenges, and best practices in family reunification with third-country nationals.
For almost three decades, there has been discussion in the European Union about how the right to family reunification in Europe can be safeguarded and legally structured. In 2003, the EU Family Reunification Directive came into force. The aim of this directive is to promote family reunification and thus support the integration of migrants living in EU member states. Since then, family reunification has been an important component of legal migration to Europe. However, with increased migration pressure, family reunification is increasingly becoming the focus of migration control and is being restricted in many European countries.
Dr. Axel Kreienbrink, Head of the BAMF Research Center, opened the EMN Germany Conference.
Source: © BAMF
"When regulating family reunification, both the constitutionally guaranteed right to protect family unity and political considerations regarding the management and control of migration must be taken into account"
, emphasized Dr. Axel Kreienbrink, Head of the Research Center for Migration, Integration, and Asylum at the Federal Office (BAMF-FZ), in his opening speech. "This conference shows how Germany and other European countries deal with these two principles."
The first keynote speech by Prof. Dr. Anne Walter from Fulda University of Applied Sciences focused on the human rights principle of family unity. In this context, she explained the role of EU law and EU case law.
Family reunification in Germany: Practical experiences
In recent years, Germany has introduced measures to facilitate family reunification, for example for immigrant skilled workers. At the same time, family reunification for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection has been restricted in terms of numbers or even temporarily suspended. Experts from legal advisory services and local immigration authorities discussed the practical implications of this legislation in the first conference panel. The discussion's insights high-lighted that administrative processes in Germany should be simplified and accelerated. In addition, the experts saw a need for greater transparency and better communication with applicants. Digitalization within federal structures does not meet expectations, although the digitalization of visa procedures at the Federal Foreign Office is already helping to speed up processes.
From left to right: Dr. Corinna Ujkašević (International Refugee Assistance Programm (IRAP), Thomas Köder (Head of Migration and Refugees Department, City of Pforzheim), Marius Tollenaere (Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy LLP lawyers) and Philipp Heiermann (researcher at the BAMF)
Source: © BAMF
Family reunification in Europe: Germany, France, Spain, and the Netherlands compared
Despite the common EU legal basis, the political priorities, legislation, and practical handling of family reunification vary greatly among the European member states. This was the subject of the second panel discussion on the afternoon of the conference, in which representatives from Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Germany exchanged views. "Our discussion shows that family reunification plays an important role for all member states – but with very different interpretations of the directive"
, said Dr. Friederike Alm, a researcher at the BAMF who moderated the second panel.
From left to right: Andrea Rodríguez (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, Spain), Dr. Ann-Marie Burbaum (German Federal Ministry of the Interior), Victoria Hutin (Ministry of the Interior, France), Eveline Kooi (Immigration and Naturalization Service, Netherlands) und Dr. Friederike Alm (researcher at the BAMF)
Source: © BAMF
For the European Commission, represented at the conference by Naima Musse Farah, it is of central importance to collect data and information on practices and challenges relating to family reunification in the member states. For this reason, the Commission initiated the EMN study on family reunification, which was published the day before the conference. The EMN study enables such a comparison and is therefore an important basis for the further development of this policy area in Europe, but also in the member states.
The importance of European exchange on key migration issues
Dr. Michael Griesbeck, Vice President of the BAMF, described the EMN in his speech as a successful example of international cooperation.
Source: © BAMF
In addition to studies and reports, the EMN also offers other formats for exchange, such as conferences, working group meetings, and an ad-hoc query tool between EMN member and observer states and the Commission. "For more than 15 years, the EMN has been providing reliable and objective information for policy, practice, and academia, thereby promoting harmonization in migration issues"
, said Dr. Michael Griesbeck, Vice President of the Federal Office. "This conference is an example of successful international cooperation, which Germany, and especially the Federal Office, cultivates regularly and on many levels."