Theresa May seeking to reverse European Court of Justice judgments that have redefined free movement as available to all EU citizens rather than just workers
Home secretary Theresa May is examining wide-ranging curbs on the free movement of European Union workers in the UK, the Guardian reported on October 7th.
According to the Guardian, the measures could include restricting access to the UK for dependants of EU citizens, and restricting access to benefits for EU citizens.
The Guardian says that May is of the opinion that reforms could be made in part to reverse previous European Court of Justice judgments that have effectively redefined free movement as being available to all EU citizens rather than merely workers.
According to the Daily Mail, May said a government strategic review of the UK's relationship with the EU would look at immigration controls.
May said she was concerned at the continuing expansion of the EU, with work restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria being lifted from next year.
The Mail quoted May as telling the Sunday Times: "We are looking at this whole area of the abuse of the freedom of movement. But we will go further on this, and the issue of free movement will be part of the review. It will be looking at where the decision-making powers are between the EU and the UK, how they are operating and what the impact of those are."
The Guardian says that May is struggling to reach her aim of cutting the overall number of immigrants to the UK to below 100,000, partly due to her inability have any direct control on the number of EU migrants.
According to the Guardian, May has been struck by the lack of high-quality academic evidence on why members of EU states often choose to reside and work in the UK as opposed to other EU countries.
The Guardian says that an estimated two million EU nationals were living in the UK in the year to March 2011.