Nearly Legal – an excellent blawg with particular strength in housing law – wrote interestingly the other day about Margaret Hodge’s comment about economic migrants and access to social housing.
But isn’t the position for EU citizens maglie calcio simpler than that? It seems to me that any EU citizen (excluding Romanians and Bulgarians for the time being) is entitled to equal treatment with British citizens as regards access to social housing, under article 24 of Directive 2004/38, as soon as they have enteredthe UK, since under article 6 they automatically have the right to reside here for three months. I don’t think it really matters any more whether or not they’re looking for work – under article 7 they retain the right to reside here if they become incapable of work, or enrol on a vocational course. And anyway, article 14 prevents the authorities from systematically checking whether EU citizens meet the criteria for retaining the right of residence, and prevents expulsion of an EU citizen who is looking for work. In effect, therefore, you can stay if you’re unemployable, and you can stay if you’re employable. The reality is (in spite of the apparent conditionality of the Directive) that we’ve been moving from a “free movement of workers” paradigm to a “free movement of EU citizens” paradigm.
It’s true that article 24 only grants equal treatment within the scope of the EC Cheap NFL Jerseys Treaty, but since this Directive replaces the old Regulation 1612/68, which used to speak of equal treatment as regards “social advantages”, which I think almost certainly includes access to social housing, it seems to me that a right to equal treatment in that regard is part of the acquis communautaire and that Directive 2004/38 should be interpreted as guaranteeing it.
So, Margaret, there’s no chance of pushing Polish plumbers, receptionists, students or “jobseekers”, or their Russian husbands, wives or civil partners, down the housing list.
Very very interesting. This could involve challenges to a whole raft of English statute and recent Regulations. I’m going to have a look at this. Hopefully, I’ll get to post on it in a week or so.
Excellent – I’ll look for your post, and by all means show me how I’m wrong, if you think I am! It seems to me though that in practice it’s very difficult indeed to see how the UK can tell any EU citizen to leave because they’ve outstayed their welcome (I’m ignoring the special provisions in the Directive based on the old Bouchereau case about deporting EU citizens who commit offences making them a threat to society – that’s different). And if they’re allowed to be here, then they’re entitled to social housing the same as any British person. The whole purpose of the Directive is to abolish nationality discrimination in the EU.