Current Affairs

From Open Europe.org:

A new EU directive on free movement of EU citizens - which was agreed in 2004 and came into force last week - will have serious implications for the UK’s ability to control its borders, social security and crime. Crucially the UK was overruled at a number of key points during the drawing up of the directive.

1. It will make it very difficult for the Government to implement its proposal to deport all foreign nationals who are sex offenders or are given custodial sentences. It rules out blanket exclusions of certain categories of offenders. If the convicted criminal has resided in the UK for a number of years, under the directive the UK will only able to deport them on grounds of “serious” or “imperative” public security. EU Commission officials have already warned the Government that any system of automatic expulsions would contravene the new directive.

2. It will weaken passport control, allowing anyone who claims to be an EU national or a family member of an EU citizen to enter the UK and demand a “reasonable period of time” to get their documents sent to them. The UK Government fought against this provision, saying it was “concerned that new wording may allow family members an indefinite time at ports of entry to obtain travel documents or visas”, but the UK was overruled.

3. It creates a new automatic right of permanent residence after five years - meaning full access to benefits - even if the person concerned has not worked. The right simply applies as long as a person has not been forced to leave the country (and the directive makes it more difficult to do this). The UK Government also tried to have this changed but failed.

4. The directive also greatly extends the definition of “family” - meaning that someone coming to the UK will be able to bring any relative who is a member of their household (no matter how distant) to the UK if they are working, and their relative will be able to claim benefits. The Government told Parliament: “We are concerned that this widening of definitions could lead to a substantial increase in the number of third country nationals gaining admission to the UK, which in turn could lead to an increased social and financial burden on the UK. We would therefore like the dependency requirement reinstated.” However the changes were not made.

5. More generally, the directive considerably extends the rights of nationals from other EU states to claim welfare benefits in the UK, even if they are not working and contributing to the British social security system. The Government wanted to be able to end a person’s residence in the UK if they applied for welfare but this is expressly forbidden in the directive.

Experts, such as respected German economics Professor Hans-Werner Sinn, have predicted that the new directive will lead to “welfare migration” or benefit shopping.

Free movement of workers has been a major success - particularly in the UK. But undermining member states’ rights to control the movements of criminals, their borders, and the access of economically inactive people to benefits is a mistake - not just because these changes are problematic in themselves, but because in the long run this will undermine public support for free movement of workers.

This is horrible marvellous. Not only illegal inmigrant will keep coming (and probably in far greater numbers than now) but also the consequences related to terrorism will be very important. I think that does not need an explanation.