About: freedom of movement Archives

A British exit from the European Union could trigger similar moves by other member states in Eastern Europe, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said in a German newspaper interview published yesterday (19 June).

As the UK's vote on its EU membership looms on the horizon, EURACTIV Germany spoke to Jo Leinen MEP about what might happen if Brexit happened and what kind of relationship the UK could expect with the EU.

Pro-Brexit campaigners want to leave the EU in order to do away with tiresome legislation and control immigration better. But how watertight are their arguments? EURACTIV's partner WirtschaftsWoche has done some fact checking.

EXCLUSIVE / The European Council agreed in February to a number of reforms proposed by Britain to try and counter the risk of the UK leaving the bloc in a June referendum. Alexander Graf Lambsdorff spoke to EURACTIV Germany about the historic vote.

A February deal allowing Britain to limit the free movement of workers coming from the European Union is giving ideas to the Swiss, who would like similar exceptions applied to their own relations with the 28 member bloc.

A draft accord to help keep Britain in the European Union is "very fragile", a top EU official warned yesterday (10 February) as France and eastern states pushed for changes before leaders meet to try and seal the deal next week.

Most of the Union’s members have reservations with regard to the possible limitations of in-work benefits for EU workers in the UK, contained in the proposals from Brussels to address David Cameron’s demands ahead of the Brexit referendum. The EURACTIV network reports.

While talks on a compromise to keep the UK in the EU continue, it has emerged that the Polish government will not support any solution reducing the privileges of Poles who already live and work in UK. EURACTIV Poland reports.

Countries on the European Union's eastern flank will meet next week and try to provide a joint response on the recent proposal to keep Britain in the EU bloc, Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said yesterday (4 February).

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned today (15 January) that restoring borders in response to the refugee problem could kill off the internal market.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker today (16 December) staked his leadership on preserving the EU's passport-free Schengen zone, saying member states had to adopt controversial plans for a new border control force.

France's President François Hollande and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss quotas for accepting migrants at their meeting today (24 August), French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday (23 August).

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday (17 August) urged the European Union to negotiate with Switzerland on Bern's plans for new quotas on immigration from the bloc.

The European Union must use its resources intelligently to control terrorism without destroying its core principles, writes Marc Pierini. 

Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said that if Greece left the single currency area, the "Anglo-Saxon world" would try everything to break it up.

The Swiss government hopes to negotiate for a right to cap immigration from the European Union so as to keep its access to EU markets when it writes into law a popular vote requiring strict limits on migration.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she was pleased British Prime Minister David Cameron had upheld the freedom of movement for EU workers in plans unveiled last week on migrant rights.

The European Commission has reacted calmly to a landmark speech by David Cameron on immigration delivered today (28 November), conveying the message that the UK Prime Minister's rhetoric is shaped by the electoral cycle, with the Tories struggling to contain the anti-EU UKIP party ahead of the May 2015 elections.

Britain's continued membership of the European Union is contingent upon it being allowed to stop migrants from the bloc tapping into its relatively generous welfare system, Prime Minister David Cameron will warn today (28 November).

As British Prime Minister David Cameron readies another big speech about Europe and immigration, he should be aware that freedom of movement is the most important element of the proud concept of EU citizenship, and that if he was looking for a major EU ‘red line’, he should look no further, writes Andrew Duff.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, said on Monday (27 October) that he had seen evidence of a rising tide of xenophobic sentiment within British society and was worried by the tone of the country's political debate over immigration.

Limiting the number of European Union citizens who are allowed to work in Britain is among proposals to curb immigration being looked at by the government, Defence Minister Michael Fallon said on Sunday (26 October).

Switzerland's business elite published an appeal in a Swiss newspaper Sunday (12 October) to save the country's accords with the European Union from unravelling, due to a vote earlier this year to curb immigration from the bloc.

Social dumping issues have pushed France to already denounce a new EU directive on posted workers, arguing it does not go far enough to prevent abuses and to protect workers’ rights, write Florence Dupont-Fargeaud and Camilla Spira.