Daniel Mitov: The right to free movement is one of the most important individual rights of EU citizens
28 November 2014 News
Today Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov spoke by phone with UK Minister of State for Europe David Lidington regarding the presented plans by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for legislative amendments and administrative measures concerning various rights of EU citizens.
Though understanding the internal political situation in the UK, Bulgaria supports the position, expressed also by the European Commission, that the right to free movement is one of the most important individual rights of EU citizens and one of the Union's founding principles.The existing EU legislation provides enough mechanisms to curb fraud and abuse of the right to free movement.
Bulgaria has repeatedly expressed its willingness for a more active exchange and cooperation with the UK to prevent attempts to abuse of the social welfare system, which undermines the right to free movement. A letter has been signed between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria and the UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for cooperation in the field of crossborder employment, service provision and enforcement of social security regulations.
Some of today’s proposed amendments to the free movement of labour force raise certain questions as to their compatibility with the principle of non-discrimination between EU citizens. At the same time we understand that they are to be translated into concrete legislative and administrative measures and more accurate assessment of their compatibility with EU law will only be possible at this stage.
Work force mobility has contributed greatly to EU's economic development. Number of surveys, including British ones, about Bulgarian and Romanian nationals, residing in the UK suggest that their aim is not to abuse the country's benefit system. The employment rate in their communities is nearly 80 per cent compared with a nationwide figure of 73 per cent. Economic surveys in the UK suggest that EU migrants generate more revenues in the British economy than the expenditures of the country’s social system.
Bulgaria expresses confidence that the cooperation between the two countries, including in the EU context in all its dimensions, is of mutual interest and will continue within various bilateral and multilateral formats.