The year leading up to the recent elections for the European Parliament saw a number of governments call for measures to restrict the free movement of people in the EU. In April last year, the Ministers of four EU Member States – the UK, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands – called on the Irish Presidency of the European Council to place further restrictions on the free movement of persons. This year saw the unprecedented election of a significant number of Members of the European Parliament elected on anti-migration and Eurosceptic mandates.

ECAS is duly concerned by these developments. We consider there is a realistic risk that some governments may try to enlist the support of Eurosceptic MEPs to table amendments of the EU free movement rules based on speculative assumptions about the effects of free movement in the EU.

We are therefore proposing a Right To Move campaign containing Seven Strategies to Improve the Free Movement of Persons.

      Directive 2004/38 should be recast into a Regulation

This would reduce divergence in administrative formalities in the EU and further facilitate the exercise of the right of free movement by EU citizens and their family members.

      The Commission’s powers of investigation should be strengthened

The Commission needs to have a full range of measures at its disposal to investigate and enforce the free movement rules more efficiently and fulfil its mission as Guardian of the EU Treaties.

      Member states should collate better statistics on the free movement of persons

The collection of data on the free movement of EU citizens and their family members would encourage better evidence-based policy-making by the Member States as well as the EU.

      Member states should deepen their collaboration on the free movement of persons

Member States can only develop appropriate and effective responses to challenges generated by the free movement of persons through cooperation guided by independent expertise.

      Civil society organisations should be empowered to help citizens overcome obstacles

Empowering civil society groups to inform and assist mobile citizens will ensure that these citizens can make effective use of those rights and overcome obstacles that may come their way.

      Judgments of the EU Court of Justice prior to 2004 should be translated into all languages

Citizens and their advisers need to be able to rely on the relevant judgments of the EU Court of Justice in all EU official languages irrespective of when the judgment may have been issued.

      A pro free movement counterfactual should be developed to refute anti-migrant rhetoric

Politicians who believe in the benefits of European integration must learn to present the benefits of free movement using similar tactics and terminology deployed by populist politicians.

If you want your organisation to join the campaign, we invite you to:

      Endorse the campaign and share your story (endorsements will be made public on the website, unless otherwise requested):

      Join us in the European Parliament:

      On the 12^th of November, the seven strategies will be presented in the European Parliament together with key MEPs and policy-makers

      Promote the campaign:

       Invite your members and partners to actively join the campaign

       Share it through social media #righttomove @ecas_europe

       Visit our website www.Righttomove.eu (available soon)

Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us via email (elisa.bruno@ecas.org) or via phone (+32 2 548 98 25).

We look forward to welcoming you to the Right To Move campaign!