European Commission accuses UK government of violating EU citizens’ rights

The European Commission has formally accused the UK government of breaching EU law on free movement of people. Brussels today launched “infringement proceedings” against the UK, the process used to force EU member countries to comply with their legal obligations. 

The UK is no longer a member of the EU, but the Commission press release points out that “EU law on free movement of persons continues to apply to and in the United Kingdom as if it were still an EU Member State during the transition period”.

While the EU free movement law mentioned is set to be repealed after the Brexit transition period, the Commission says that whatever the UK is doing wrong has implications for the treatment of EU citizens under the Withdrawal Agreement as well.

The press release does not give any more detail on what the alleged breaches are; that may emerge in the coming days. The UK now has four months to sort things out before the Commission takes things further.