Quotes of the day 14th November 2014

"Britain's frustration is no game. It is not a political ploy to gain advantages and concessions from our partners."

"The UK case on free movement is as compelling as it is misunderstood. And it is misunderstood. It is a matter of numbers.
 
"Whereas some European populations are falling, the UK has grown by 7% in a decade…. the sheer scale of the influx has put strains on our health, welfare, housing and education services that we struggle to meet - and has held down wages for many of the poorest members of our society.

"I do recognise - reluctantly - that our small island simply cannot absorb the present and projected numbers at the current speed: it is not physically or politically possible without huge public disquiet… I hate having to make this argument. I hate it. As a boy, I was brought up among immigrants in South London. They were my friends and my neighbours… we do not seek to end free movement - far from it: but, while the pressures are uncontainable, we do seek to qualify it."

(Sir John Major: extracts from a speech made yesterday in Berlin to German Christian Democrats)

Comments

Jim said…
The freedom of movement is and always has been "limited and qualified" there are things (well within the rules) that could be adopted and have not been. Things that would limit the draw in of migrants, a good example is the recent case of Elisabeta Dano not being able to claim Jobseekers allowance in Germany. She appealed under the "none discrimination on grounds of nationality rule of Article 18, though the court applied the freedom of movement directive (2004/38/EC) which states economically inactive residents of over 3 months but less than 5 years must have sufficient resources of their own. Though as you can see from the directive number, that has been the case for the last 10 years

I guess its pointless trying to reform the rules of one of the four freedoms (the core of the single market) if you are not going to use the existing rules to mitigate the problem anyway.
9:49 am
Chris Whiteside said…
I'm sure that making proper use of the existing rules is exactly what John Major is asking our European partners to do.

But you make a very good point that there are qualifications in the principle of Freedom of Movement.

Therefore it should be perfectly possible to get at least some genuine reform by asking for these to be sensibly applied.

That in turn suggests that the argument, which surprisingly enough is often put forward both by hardline Europhiles and hardline opponents of the EU, that trying to get reform is an attempt to completely change what Britain originally signed up to, is not entirely correct.
5:43 pm
Jim said…
The thing is Chris, its not about asking our European Partners to apply them, the rules are there from the EU, its down to the government of each member state to apply them accordingly.

its pointless asking to reform the rules (a reform that is not going to happen, without a treaty change) if the rules that do exist are not applied to their full extent.

Applying the rules is not a reform, its just applying the rules that are already there.
6:00 pm
Jim said…
Also the freedom of movement is not a part and parcel of our EU membership, its part and parcel of our EEA membership.

for ease, the EU is, and always was, a political entity. Its aim is "ever closer union" or if you prefer the creation of the United States of Europe.

the EEA is the trade part, that is the single market. the four freedoms fall here, you dont need to be a member of the EU to trade with the EU, but you can still be a member of the EEA (Single market) and not a member of the EU (Norway, Iceland and Lichenstein do this)

6:12 pm
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