Brussels, 15/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - With an increasingly challenging attitude in several member states, particularly the United Kingdom, where Romanians, Bulgarians and Poles are openly accused of abusing the benefits, MEPs and main political groups of the European Parliament (EP) took up the pilgrim's staff on Wednesday 15 January and, in a lengthy debate, defended the inalienable right of Europeans to move and settle freely in other member states.
The current debate on migrants in the United Kingdom, which was described as “irrational” to the point of “hysteria” by certain members of the chamber, was roundly criticised by the MEPs. Even the representative of the Council, Greek Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Dimitrios Kourkoulas said that, “at a time when nationalism and xenophobia are on the rise, we need official statements to be based on facts, not impressions and popularly accepted notions”. The Greek Presidency feels that it is important not to confuse the free movement of European citizens with immigration from third countries. “The right to settle in another country is entirely different from the rights granted to immigrants from third countries”, the Greek minister pointed out, starting off by stressing that an overwhelming majority of the country supports the freedom of movement in Europe. “Obviously, wherever there are rights there will also be abuse and the Commission has been given a mandate to examine this abuse by request of the member states”. The fact is, Kourkoulas added, that “the majority of migrants travel to work, not to take advantage of social benefits”.
As she has now been doing for more than six months (the first debates of the Council on the alleged abuses of the freedom of movement started at JHA Council in June 2013), Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Viviane Reding reiterated the facts observed by the Commission on the basis of statistics sent in by the member states.
These show that mobile citizens in the EU, the Commission points out, represent a very small proportion of those receiving benefits from social security and social insurance, at less than 1% of all beneficiaries (citizens of the EU) in six countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Malta and Portugal), between 1% and 5% in five other countries (Germany, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Sweden) and over 5% in Belgium and Ireland. More than 14 million citizens of the EU live permanently in a member state other than their state of origin and, in 2012, more than three quarters of these (78%) were of working age (between 15 and 64 years of age), compared to 66% of nationals of member states. On average, the employment rate of mobile EU citizens was higher than that of nationals (67.7% compared to 64.6%), both Kourkoulas and Reding stressed. The overall unemployment rate, among mobile citizens within the Union, also fell between 2005 and 2012, from 34.1% to 30.7%.
Reding argued that the real challenge lies in the fact that “we must ceaselessly make it clear that all European citizens have the right to the freedom of movement, which is linked to the fact of being a European citizen” and that “this also benefits the economies to which these people move”, she explained.
As for abuse, which the European executive does not deny, the Commission has partly responded to requests made of it in its publication, on Monday 13 January, of an initial guide for the member states on usual residency tests, Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Andor pointed out. He said that, for the time being, no member state has provided any evidence of the alleged abuse and the fact that the governments may decide to shelve reports shows the level of manipulation of the subject, the commissioner went as far as saying, in reference to the report currently buried by the British Conservatives (see other article).
For the EPP, Romanian Marian-Jean Marinescu made no secret of his anger, calling on the United Kingdom to “immediately cease the debate”. Arguing that the member states would be better advised to worry about the number of jobs vacant in their economies, he called upon them to accept “more integration”. We must “tell the truth and not fabrications”, he said in a comment aimed at London.
In the view of Hannes Swoboda (S&D, Austria), the member states would do better to focus on the real problems of poverty and unemployment in the EU, “not freedom of movement! That is not a problem, it is a right”. We cannot “have a single market for goods and services”, the S&D leader added. The same indignation was expressed by the ADLE MEP Romanian Renate Weber, who said that it is “unacceptable to challenge this fundamental right”. This right should be assessed to verify that all member states are abiding by it, she said. Over at the ECR, which has a number of British Conservatives in its ranks, a commitment to the freedom of movement was also expressed. Without directly speaking out against David Cameron's tactics, British MEP Timothy Kirkhope stressed that, over the last 30 years, the UK has greatly benefited from the arrival of migrants. Today, “we can examine how the freedom of movement is working, but we must neither destroy this principle nor point the finger” at the culprits. Six draft resolutions by the groups will be put to the vote on Thursday 16 January. (SP/transl.fl)