A Ruling Against Welfare Tourists by Top Court in EU Serves as an Encouragement for UK’s Campaign Against Immigration

On Tuesday, the highest court in Europe made a ruling that countries in the European Union can stop immigrants who are not yet working from collecting welfare allowances and benefits. This ruling is significant in the sense that it is most probable that it would assist David Cameron the prime minister of Britain to further address the perceived problem posed by welfare tourists.

In view of the increasing opposition and pressure brought about by the UKIP – UK Independence Party which is opposed to the EU, Mr. Cameron stated that he would reduce immigration in the EU if he was voted back into office. Mr. Cameron is making these promises in advance of the upcoming national elections in May 2015. Those criticizing Cameron are stating that his tactics could adversely affect the European Union’s policy of movement without restraints.

In the landmark ruling, judges of the ECJ – the Court of Justice of the EU – had stated that any citizens of the EU who were presently not working or active in an economical way, and chose to enter into a different member state for the sole purpose of getting assistance and aids of social nature would be denied from some of those assistances.

This ruling was made in a case that had to do with a Elisabeta Dano and her son who are both Romanians. They had requested for a type of welfare benefit in Germany. When the authorities in Germany had refused to approve their request, Dano was moved to make an appeal to a court in Germany. That court had to eventually seek for advice from the ECJ which is located in Luxembourg.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron had vowed to strive to change the shape of the ties between Britain and EU before organizing a referendum on the country’s membership of the European Union in 2017. He stated that he was going to achieve this as a promise if he won the elections next year.

A spokesman for Mr. Cameron stated that from the ECJ ruling, one of the major things that was pointed out was that the freedom to move around, just as the prime minister has always stated was not an unqualified right. He stated that the government was definitely going to study properly what they and other countries can do to work together as a reaction to this ECJ ruling.

The Conservative Party of Mr. David Cameron want to discontinue what they look at as an abuse of welfare by immigrants who are poor and come into Britain from eastern Europe without any work nor health insurance. By so doing, they plan on reducing the stress on local provisions like housing and health. Those criticizing the prime minister say that he was over-amplifying the issues in order to generate attention from those voters who were most likely to vote for UKIP.
Mr. Cameron’s intention to limit immigration through a more planned approach has resulted in stern backlash and warnings from EU leaders, the European Commission, and Angela Merkel the German Chancellor who all see freedom of movement as very necessary.