The European Social Charter, the Council of Europe's social rights treaty sets out a specific right to family reunion in its Article 19§6. The provision is worded in rather general terms and its reach is limited by the Charter's restricted personal scope and by the fact that several States Parties have not accepted to be bound by it. Nevertheless, the European Committee of Social Rights, the quasi-judicial supervisory body of the Charter, has with its principled interpretation founded a right to family reunion which may be the subject of only narrowly defined restrictions and conditions.
While the Committee's case law since the late 1960s has been remarkably consistent, the right to family reunion has come under increasing pressure by the introduction of ever tighter immigration laws in European States, in part authorised by European Union legislation in this field.
The article analyses the key features of the Committee's case law pertaining to family reunion and provides an overview of its most recent findings in respect of the law and practice of the States Parties. On this basis it identifies the main fault lines between the Charter and EU law and alludes to the need for improving coordination and maximising synergies between the two legal systems.

 The European Social Charter, the Council of Europe's social rights treaty sets out a specific right to family reunion in its Article 19§6. The provision is worded in rather general terms and its reach is limited by the Charter's restricted personal scope and by the fact that several States Parties have not accepted to be bound by it. Nevertheless, the European Committee of Social Rights, the quasi-judicial supervisory body of the Charter, has with its principled interpretation founded a right to family reunion which may be the subject of only narrowly defined restrictions and conditions.
While the Committee's case law since the late 1960s has been remarkably consistent, the right to family reunion has come under increasing pressure by the introduction of ever tighter immigration laws in European States, in part authorised by European Union legislation in this field.
The article analyses the key features of the Committee's case law pertaining to family reunion and provides an overview of its most recent findings in respect of the law and practice of the States Parties. On this basis it identifies the main fault lines between the Charter and EU law and alludes to the need for improving coordination and maximising synergies between the two legal systems.