The admission of family members of third-country nationals or stateless persons who are legally residing in a Member State, or of Union citizens, should be without prejudice to the rights laid down in Council Directive 2003/86/ECFamily Reunification Directive (⁴), Directive 2004/38/ECFree Movement of Citizens Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁵) or to national law concerning family reunification. Such admission should therefore focus on the family members who fall outside the scope of those Directives or relevant national law, or who could not be reunited with their families for other reasons.

4. Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification (OJ L 251, 3.10.2003, p. 12). ↩︎

5. Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC (OJ L 158, 30.4.2004, p. 77). ↩︎