Barbulescu, R., (2014), “EU freedom of movement is coming under increasing pressure in the UK and other European states”, LSE Blogs, 20 Φεβρουαρίου.
EU citizens have the right to live and work in any other EU state. As Roxana Barbulescu writes, however, this principle of freedom of movement has come under pressure from a number of recent developments. Focusing on the UK, she notes that while there are substantial economic benefits from freedom of movement, there is now growing support for putting restrictions in place. In the short term this will include putting a minimum earnings threshold on EU citizens’ access to certain types of welfare from 1 March, but across Europe far wider changes could take place if politicians attempt to placate anti-immigration sentiments among their electorates.
The liberal, cosmopolitan and gay marriage-friendly United Kingdom is currently facing a difficult challenge. On 1 January 2014, temporary restrictions placed on workers from Romania and Bulgaria ended – an event which generated a wave of hysteria in British politics. Tabloids such as The Daily Mail and The Sun featured stories of remote impoverished villages in Romania and printed glossy pictures of Roma Romanians begging and living in bad conditions in Marble Arch, one of the most emblematic, tourist-friendly and affluent areas of London. This media coverage was ostensibly designed to highlight the degree of poverty of people in a far-away country.
However, the challenge goes well beyond the press and it has triggered strong declarations from politicians and party leaders. Prime Minister David Cameron and cabinet ministers have promised that the current coalition government will look at ways to limit immigration from the EU and have announced a set of measure that would restrict access to social benefits. Cameron has insisted that, if his Conservative Party wins the next election in 2015, freedom of movement would be renegotiated as part of a reform of the UK’s relationship with the EU. He has also promised a referendum on the renegotiation as to whether the UK should remain within the EU.
Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις
- European Commission, (2014), “Free Movement: European Commission publishes studyon integration of mobile EU citizens in six cities”, 11 Φεβρουαρίου.
- Katsikas, D., (2013), “Brain drain, a new challenge for the Eurozone”, EurActiv, Opinion Article, 25 Νοεμβρίου.
- Bertoli, Simone, Brücker, Herbert, Fernández-Huertas Moraga, Jesús, (2013), ‘The European Crisis and Migration to Germany: Expectations and the Diversion of Migration Flows’, IZA Discussion Papers, N.7170.