Concerns over
Cameron’s cap on
EU migration
22 October 2014
The legality of Cameron’s cap on EU migration has been called into question.
According to the European President, José Manuel Barroso, the plans proposed by David Cameron would be illegal under EU law.
The Prime Minister’s plans to limit migration to the UK through quotas for EU workers is what some are calling an ‘emergency brake’ and would involve capping the issuing of national insurance numbers, allowing Downing Street to block new arrivals if numbers had reached a set level.
However Mr Barroso has stated that freedom of movement is an ‘essential’ principle to the founding EU treaty and intimated that any plan to limit national insurance numbers would trespass on this right.
‘The principle of freedom of movement is essential, we have to keep it’ – European President, José Manuel Barroso
Not only has the legality of Cameron’s plans been criticised but also that it could lead to lengthy negotiations and prove impossible to implement. New arrivals from Europe would be given a temporary insurance number which would prevent them from moving to the UK and claiming benefits indefinitely. However, others have argued that the plans may find success during the negotiations, as similar overrides of other EU laws already exist that can only be implemented in the event of national emergency.
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