This book provides an overview of the state of EU migration law in 2014. It explores the meaning of EU legislation on migration in the light of fundamental rights and principles of Union law as explained in leading case-law of the European courts. It is especially aimed at students, but may likewise be useful for practitioners, policy makers or others interested in the legal foundations of migration in Europe. Today's Union law contains a comprehensive and almost all-encompassing migration law system. It governs both voluntary and forced migration. It controls entry, residence and return. It covers both Union citizens and third-country nationals. Though there are fields not affected by Union law and left to the Member States, the overall picture drawn by the existing EU instruments is fairly complete.
The book purports to present as lucidly as possible, in one framework, the different regimes as they pertain to the free movement of Union citizens, the association agreement with Turkey, the migration of third country nationals for reasons of work, study, family reunification and asylum, the regulation of movement of third country nationals to, from and within the Schengen area, and instruments to control migration. This second edition is written by the same authors who wrote the first edition. Pieter Boeles, Emeritus Professor of Migration law at the University of Leiden, is now Visiting Professor at VU University Amsterdam; Maarten den Heijer is Assistant Professor of International Law at the Amsterdam Center for International Law (University of Amsterdam); Gerrie Lodder is Senior Lecturer in Immigration Law at the University of Leiden and Kees Wouters is Senior Refugee Law adviser at the Division of International Protection of UNHCR in Geneva.