THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The European Commission has threatened to take legal action against Britain if ministers do not water down rules limiting foreigners’ ability to claim benefits.
Ministers fear the move could leave taxpayers handing out as much as £2.5 billion to EU nationals, including out-of-work “benefit tourists”, a new cost that could wreck Coalition plans for welfare reform.
The commission’s threat, on the eve of the Conservative Party conference, has raised the political temperature on Europe still further.
In an outspoken attack today, Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, says the commission’s move is part of a “wider movement” by the “unelected and unaccountable” European authorities to extend their power over the UK.
“This kind of land grab from the EU has the potential to cause mayhem to nation states, and we will fight it,” he writes in The Daily Telegraph.
The commission is objecting to Britain’s rules on welfare, claiming they discriminate unfairly against foreigners. To claim benefits in Britain, EU nationals must pass a “right to reside” test. The commission says the test is too tough, and wants Britain to apply more generous EU-wide rules.
The commission said it had given Britain two months to bring its rules into line with the weaker EU standard. “Otherwise, the commission may decide to refer the UK to the EU’s Court of Justice.”
The intervention has infuriated ministers, in particular because social security has long been seen as a national policy area and not one in which the EU is allowed to interfere.
It will also inflame the Coalition’s internal debate over Europe. Tory MPs, who will gather in Manchester this weekend for their annual conference, are pushing David Cameron to drive a much harder bargain with Brussels. Liberal Democrat ministers have said they will resist any move to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership. » | Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Thursday, September 29, 2011
