The historical aspects of love in a European and Nordic context are underlined, as well as the modern understanding of love and law as incompatible and contrasting concepts. Developments within the European Union and especially the relation of the EU to so called third country nationals and immigrants demonstrate that the problematic concerning law and love is not only one of legal philosophy but also of legal and everyday reality.
The claim that love has been specifically ‘European’ is discarded as Eurocentrist, and the need for more particular emotions and a more pragmatic approach to romantic feelings, for a ‘reasonable love’ is discussed from legal, feminist and philosophical perspectives.