The European Commission referred the United Kingdom to the Court of Justice of the European Union on Monday 16 December for failing to comply with EU law on the free movement of EU citizens and their family members at the end of 2020, it said in a press release.
The Commission considers that at the end of 2020 there were a number of shortcomings in the United Kingdom’s implementation of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, “which continue to affect EU citizens in the context of the Withdrawal Agreement. More specifically, this concerns the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (Article 21 TFEU), the free movement of workers (Article 45 TFEU) and the freedom of establishment (Article 49 TFEU), as well as the transposition of the Free Movement Directive (2004/38/EC)”.
The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the UK in May 2020, followed by a reasoned opinion in July 2024, on the grounds that UK national legislation limited the scope of beneficiaries of EU law on free movement. “The Commission maintains that several aspects of the grievances remain unresolved, in particular with regard to workers’ rights and the rights of distant family members”.
The agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU protects the residence rights of EU citizens who exercised their right to free movement in the UK before the end of 2020.
In 2021, there were around 4 million EU-born residents in the UK. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)