THE GOVERNMENT is trying to amend European law to make it more difficult for the non-EU spouses of EU citizens to obtain the right to live in Ireland.
It has teamed up with Denmark to put the controversial issue on the agenda of a meeting of EU justice ministers in Brussels this Thursday.
Several other member states are also expected to support amending a key 2004 EU directive, which bolsters the rights of EU citizens and their family members to move and freely reside within the EU.
The emergency debate proposed at the Council of Ministers in Brussels follows a landmark judgment issued by the European Court of Justice in July.
Europe's highest court ruled the Government should not prevent spouses of EU citizens who are not themselves EU citizens from living in Ireland in the so-called "Metock" case.
Metock was one of four plaintiffs that challenged "intent to deport" notices issued against him by the Department of Justice even though he was married to an EU citizen.
In each of the four test cases ruled on by the court, the couples were married in the Republic and the non-EU national husbands had all unsuccessfully applied for asylum here.
The Government argued it should be allowed to deport non-EU spouses to better control immigration into the EU and combat "marriages of convenience". But the court dismissed its concerns ruling the Irish authorities had improperly transposed a 2004 EU directive on freedom of movement and was unfairly deporting the spouses of EU citizens.
The ruling is forcing the Government to review the cases of more than 1,500 spouses of EU citizens who were refused residency rights on the basis they were non-EU nationals. It has also been forced to amend its own national regulations transposing the EU directive into Irish law and to begin a wider review of the judgment's full implications.
Several other EU states have also expressed serious concern at the ruling with Denmark, in particular, forcefully arguing that the 2004 EU directive should be redrafted.
A Danish spokesman said the debate this week would discuss the possibility of amending the freedom of movement directive to give states more control of their borders.
"We will talk about the consequences of the verdict and the options open to us," he said.
A Government spokesman said Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern would take part in the debate. "The judgment is a significant development and it is appropriate that the matter be discussed at EU level. Ireland will reserve its comments for that discussion," she said.
London also supports the Irish and Danish initiative, although it has concerns that any move to redraft the 2004 directive on freedom of movement could create new problems. A spokeswoman for the Immigrant Council of Ireland said any move to redraft the directive would represent an extraordinary row-back on one of the fundamental cornerstones of the whole EU project.