Top EU lawyer backs UK migrants law

The U.K. is not violating European Union law by requiring migrants to pass a residency test before they can receive social benefits, according the EU’s top legal adviser.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, EU Advocate General Pedro Cruz Villalón recommended that the European Court of Justice rule against the European Commission, which took the U.K. government to court over the so-called “Right to Reside” law.

The law requires EU migrants to prove they are resident in the U.K. before being able to access social benefits such as child benefits and income support. The Commission claimed that the test was discriminatory because it does not apply equally to British citizens.

Cruz Villalón wrote in his opinion that the case should be dismissed, arguing that the freedom of movement should be “subject to limitations and conditions.”

“The U.K. welcomes this opinion, which supports our view that we are entitled to ensure only EU migrants who have a right to be in the U.K. can claim our benefits,” said a U.K. government spokesperson. “However, this is just the Advocate General’s opinion, and we look forward to the ECJ’s judgment in due course.”

The issue of “benefits tourism” has been prominent in the debate over Britain’s membership in the EU leading up to a referendum on the issue to be held before the end of 2017. The free movement of people across EU borders is likely to be a key focus of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s push for reforms aimed at avoiding a “Brexit.” 

“Other countries share our unease about the abuse of free movement rules and are receptive to our reform agenda,” said Anthea McIntyre, the Conservative party’s spokesperson on employment in the European Parliament. “The ECJ knows which way the political wind blows and it is starting to blow the way of reform in Europe.”

Pro-EU parliamentarians said the ruling showed that European institutions were not intent on undermining British laws, as many Euroskeptics, including those in Cameron’s Conservative party, have argued.

“This is an important recognition by the EU of Britain’s unique social security system,” said Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder in a statement. “Those Tory Euroskeptics who were hoping to use this as a stick to beat their own Prime Minister will be sorely disappointed.”

Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas declined to comment on the opinion at a briefing in Brussels, saying it was the institution’s policy to comment publicly only on court rulings, which sometimes take months after an opinion is issued.

“Stay tuned” for the final verdict, Schinas added.