The right to reside applies to foreigners who work, are looking for work or have been in Britain for at least five years.
EU court backs Britain over child benefit residency rule
The European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday that Britain
could deny child benefit to foreigners who are not economically active
in the country, one of the hot-button issues in Britain's looming
referendum on EU membership.
The European Court of
Justice said a rule that makes allowances conditional on the right to
reside in Britain might amount to discrimination, but could be justified
by a need to protect public finances.
The right to reside applies to foreigners who work, are looking for work or have been in Britain for at least five years.
The
European Commission had argued that the British process of checking
whether claimants of child benefit and child tax credit are legally
resident discriminates against foreigners because British citizens are
not checked in that way.
The court said the condition did not go beyond what is necessary to attain the objective of protecting its finances.
Catherine
Bearder, Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament (MEP) and a
proponent of Britain staying in the European Union, called it a "landmark judgement".
"This
ruling is a victory for Britain, confirming we have a fair immigration
system as well as having full access to the EU single market," she said.
POPULAR CONCERNS
Conservative MEP Anthea McIntyre said the ruling was a victory for Britain and for common sense.
The ruling follows an opinion issued in October from a senior adviser to the court.
Since
then, British Prime Minister David Cameron secured more freedom to curb
UK benefits available to citizens of the other 27 EU member states in
order to bring down the numbers of people migrating to Britain.
The
court stresses its independence from politics, though EU officials say a
number of recent decisions on benefits for migrants show a sensitivity
to concerns in Britain and other member states that have sapped popular
support for the EU.
UK-based think-tank IPPR said the judgment could be picked up by both sides of the June 23 referendum campaign.
For
Remain, the court's support would be a boost, while for the Leave
group, it would remind voters that Britain's welfare system is subject
to EU law, IPPR research fellow Marley Morris said.
Other
wealthier member states such as Germany also want to counter "benefits
tourism" from poorer eastern European states which have joined the bloc
since 2004.
A number of court judgments have
underlined that free movement for EU citizens is principally restricted
to those in work or seeking work, or their dependents.
إرسال تعليق