UK taken to court by the European Commission over benefits for EU nationals

[lottieandmia]

What do you think the outcome of this will be?

Nothing

Spain's being taken to court too because of the refusal I treat people with eu medical cards. I'd imagine nothing much will come of either.

Nothing will happen, these cases always take decades. I do think that the fundamental principle that people should be treated the same irrespective of nationality is a sound one, and if the UK is violating this then they should be held to account. Ditto Spain re the EHIC, btw.

The point is that any unemployed EU citizen could simply move to the EU member country that pays the best unemployment benefit.

So, will we all be complaining here in the UK when benefits have to be cut again because there are too many unemployed EU citizens moving here to claim benefit?

The Govt is right to say that there should be a qualifying period of residency.

Sorry but I don't think people should be able to just move to a country and claim benefits, I'm not racist but we don't have enough to go around as it is. And I'd like to see what happens if one of us tried it in reverse.

Plenty unemployment benefits in the UK are not particularly generous, and the data shows that immigrants are less likely to claim benefits than native UK citizens.

There are already criteria in place everywhere in Europe - despite what you read in the Mail, you can't just up sticks as an unemployed person somewhere else, move to the UK and get benefits. The UK is being taken to court because it is not treating people equally on the basis of nationality. If the UK doesn't like it, they can get out of the EU (and see how they like being outside the trade agreement currently being brokered with the US...)

Jobseekers is available to all ,this must be about the right to reside test that they apply to income support employment and support allowance ... for them people needs 5 continuos years without a break of treaty rights ,work,selfemployment,jobseekers but signing on or if selfsuficient they need private medical insurance .A partner in those 5 years can delegate treaty rights if they are European but not If they are British so this mostly affects the children of british fathers after separation really as the mothers are not entitle to help if the mother unable to work . I dont know what the solution is but in many cases vulnerable woman find themselves with a british child or two or three after separation and if the mother can not work .... they find themselves in real shit when they have lived in the Uk for years and years but the father was the bread winner.

It is about the 'right to reside test'. And it seems from what I've read that it is boiling down to the fact that British & Irish citizens always pass this test whereas an EU national who has worked & paid taxes may not pass it (but they may).

So. The million dollar question is "Is this discrimination?"

It may well be. But I can equally see the other side of the coin. I'm sure in time the matter will be settled by legal eagles smarter than me (and whom have got richer as a result of this dispute).

But the timing here sucks. This is the biggest present you could have given the Eurosceptic Tories & UKIP. The cynic in me wonders why now? The right to reside test was introduced in 2004 according to the BBC. So why bring it up now when the UK is navel gazing over whether or not we want to remain members of the EU?

I wondered that, niceguy. IDS was saying he thinks it's wrong that people can claim child benefit and tax credits for their children when those children and the other parent still live in their native country while the one parent is here to work and evidently send the money home. But is it really actually about that??

I think the answer is to leave the EU. What on earth is the point of having a parliament and laws and if the EU can overturn them.

You have the right to move to another EU country and claim unemployment benefit for a short period of time - but that money is reclaimed from your country of origin.

I hope the government digs it's heals in. We have a massive deficit as it is and I don't think that if we go elsewhere it is made easy to claim anything or access free healthcare.e.g. Spain. We have enough unemployed people here already and non working non EU citizens who have arrived and don't seem to have to work.

Our own citizens seem to be penalised if we haven't paid enough stamps over the years'. sometimes the self employed can't claim unemployment benefit. For example pensions for women who took time off to have children in the 60's/70's have lost out on receiving a full pension

I don't agree with CB being given to children who don't reside here when the government cut CB for it's own citizens.

I agree with alemci they cut cb and other child related payouts just before my first was born,previously I'd always worked and never claimed anything typical!

It's weird, that each EU country seems to interpret the freedom of movement in a different way.

We moved to France in 2006. We had no rights to claim any state aid whatsoever until we'd been here 5 years. Then we would be treated as any other French national - no contributions, no state aid. Until that date, if we claimed any aid, we'd have been treated as economic migrants and shown the door.

I just can't understand why the UK doesn't interpret the rules in the same way.

I think the UK will win. Alan Johnson on Question Time said the principle had already been tested in the Supreme Court here. Would definitely be to David Cameron's benefit if it is tested in the EU courts and won there too.

I think it's this case - although it was about pension credits. UK government won, Latvian pensioner lost. I tried to google a newspaper report to explain it but couldn't find anything - that"s the nature of sensationalist Eurosceptic news reporting.

www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2011/11.html