European Union

The upcoming EU adaptation strategy must give impetus to building climate-resilient societies, say Environment MEPs in a new resolution on adapting to climate change.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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Cross-border videoconferencing and safer and easier document exchange: learn how new EU rules for digitalising justice will benefit people and firms.

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The Environment Committee today approved the deal on the drinking water directive and adopted a resolution demanding EU legislation on water be correctly implemented.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

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Following today’s meeting of Parliament’s Conference of Presidents, President Sassoli and Prime Minister Costa will hold a joint press conference.

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Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging
Freedom of establishment
The directive concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services is applicable to the transnational provision of services in the road transport sector

Seeking work and shelter in another EU country proves more difficult today than at the end of the last century. Despite existing EU legislation, national administrations seem reluctant to facilitate the residence of certain European citizens. Julien Bois calls for the European Commission to again clarify citizens’ free-movement rights, taking into account societal and judicial developments and administrative practices that have developed in the last 15 years.

The European Commission should take into account legal developments in the field of free-movement rights and issue a clarification. Photo from Edinburgh by Lāsma Artmane on Unsplash

Seeking work and shelter in another European Union (EU) country proves more difficult today than at the end of the 20th century. National administrations seem reluctant to facilitate the residence of certain European citizens. Despite existing legislation (Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States), citizens have difficulties overcoming administrative hurdles when trying to obtain residence documents, have their third-country national family members joining them abroad, or simply obtaining social benefits in their new country of residence.

A genuine political union?

The adoption of the Maastricht Treaty created European citizenship. It meant that every citizen could move and reside freely in another EU country, even if they were not economically active. Discrimination on the grounds of nationality thus proved illegal under EU law, and foreign citizens were given the same social rights as nationals.

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) played a key role in favoring cross-border mobility and residence. It granted economically inactive parents and students the possibility to receive support from their new state of residence. The legislator outlined the scope of residence rights with a text that clearly defined the rights and obligations attached to EU citizenship. By tying citizenship less to common market considerations and more to fundamental rights, as Adrienne Yong points to in her recent book, EU institutions took a major step towards a genuine political union.

Restrictions on free movement rights

Yet the mood has clearly changed in the last 10 years. The economic and financial crisis led European countries to tighten public spending. Mobile citizens also became victims of public spending cuts. EU countries restricted access to welfare by denying previously accepted requests or withholding access to needed documents like residence permits.

The CJEU departed from its earlier expansive reach of EU citizenship to a narrow interpretation of the rules regulating free movement. It famously put an end to social tourism in the Union and has not helped former workers to stay beyond six months even if its earlier case law hinted towards this possibility.

The Commission issued further guidance on the application of the free-movement directive in 2009, but has not followed up despite dramatic changes in the socio-economic environment in European countries. As a result, some parts of the directive are not applied. Family members of EU citizens who are third-country nationals (TNC) are often required to provide visas, despite their right to move visa-free in the Schengen area. Some groups remain particularly prone to frequent residence documents checks although this is clearly prohibited.

There is no consensual definition of “public policy grounds” which allow member states to deport or refuse entry of EU citizens into their territory in order to prevent disturbance of social order. The European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) reports that member states have adopted different approaches as a result. National authorities in Spain, France, Italy and Portugal keep refusing marriage and birth certificates issued in a non-EU country even for EU citizens or for their TCN family members.

As Martin Risak and Thomas Dullinger have shown, member states also adopt generalized thresholds when assessing the working situation of mobile EU citizens, despite the provision in Directive 2004/38/EC to assess situations on a case-by-case basis. National administrations have adopted either a minimum income threshold and/or a minimum number of hours worked per week for the activity to be considered work, and these thresholds are much higher than those retained by the CJEU’s case law. These are a few examples of the many uncertainties that Sandra Mantu and Paul Minderhoud have identified in EU law regulating cross-border mobility. Others relate to ‘comprehensive medical insurance’, or ‘sufficient resources’.

Same-sex marriage and other societal developments

The adoption in 2004 of a directive regulating the exercise of free movement and residence was a welcome move for EU institutions and national administrations in their task of facilitating the exercise of one of the core freedoms enshrined in the EU treaties. But no such text can foresee the developments in society. Free movement in the EU in 2020 does not hold the same meaning as it did in 2004. Since then, the definition of labor has changed, same-sex marriage lawfully contracted in a member state shall be recognized as such across the EU’s territory (Coman case), the length of residence shall be taken into account when considering deportation on grounds of public policy.

Some of these uncertainties displayed effects early on, which led the Commission in 2009 to issue the above-mentioned clarification of the directive on free movement and residence. It answered some questions raised by citizens, national administrations and judiciaries at the time, which had implications for the situation of thousands of mobile citizens and their family members.

Putting an end to uncertainty

The increasing flow of mobile citizens, the unequal application of free movement and residence rights and the ambiguities displayed by the case-law of the Court of Justice all point to the need for further clarification of the free movement regime, according to the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS).

While a full overhaul of the directive 2004/38 EC does not seem necessary as it provides the grounding rules that still fit the societal situation in 2020, a new communication would be a welcome move to help clarifying certain aspects of a necessary vague text. While the current situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic demands a halt to non-essential travels, the demand for further clarification remains greater than ever for EU citizens who seek to establish themselves in their new member states in these troubled times.

A clarification from the European Commission would hardly be demanding, as it would only have to consider judiciary developments and administrative practices regarding situations not foreseen by the legislator 15 years ago. It would simply be to ask what is required of any political system based on the rule of law: the end of uncertainty. Today, many do not know what may happen when residing in another member state. All it takes is a few words to put an end to uncertainty.

This post was developed during the author’s stay at the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) as Marie-Sklodowska Curie visiting fellow in March 2020.

The post Strangers at the gates: denying residence rights in Europe in the 21st century appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Length of video : 120'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The award ceremony for this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, conferred upon the Belarusian democratic opposition, will be held on 16 December.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Committee on Development
Subcommittee on Human Rights

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Length of video : 136'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The alleged involvement of Frontex staff in pushbacks of asylum-seekers by the Greek border guard will be the focus of a debate in the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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Debate today on Article 7 developments and the state of LGBTI rights in Poland and Hungary with Commissioner for Justice Reynders and Commissioner for Equality Dalli.
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

MEPs will discuss the right to disconnect digitally from work, EU asylum rules and legislation on water in the coming week.

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Remote Plenary Session

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Committee meetings

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The Subcommittee on Security and Defence will discuss the prospects for the EU space defence sector with experts, on 30 November. This debate will take place in a context where the EU's space, defence and civil security industries face unprecedented competition in a highly volatile geopolitical environment, highlighting the need to ensure the EU's access to space, its resilience and security of infrastructure.
Meeting agenda and documents
Live Streaming
EU Fact Sheets: Security and defence
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MEPs approved new rights for consumers, called for an end to homelessness and set out their position on the EU’s industrial strategy during the 23-26 November plenary session.

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On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted three resolutions taking stock of the human rights situation in Belarus, Ethiopia, and Algeria.
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Human Rights

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MEPs condemn the setback to women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Poland and stress the EU’s legal obligation to uphold and protect them.
Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

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Parliament agreed to eliminate EU tariffs on lobsters in return for lower US tariffs on a range of EU exports.
Committee on International Trade

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The Subcommittee on Security and Defence will discuss the impact of disinformation campaigns against CSDP missions and operations on 16 November 2020. The debate is expected to focus on the vulnerabilities arising from such campaigns and look into options for improved policy and operational responses, with representatives of the EU Military Staff, the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capabilities, and investigative journalist, Michael Weiss, specialist on Russia's influence campaigns.
Meeting agenda and documents
Summary: CSDP missions and operations: sources, vulnerabilities and responses to disinformation attacks
Live Streaming
EU Fact Sheets: Security and defence
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP