Internal Market - Free Movement of People

Free Movement of People

See also: Directive 2004/38/EC on the right to move and reside freely

The free movement of people means EU citizens can move freely between member states to live, work, study or retire in another country. This required the lowering of administrative formalities and more recognition of professional qualifications of other states. Fostering the free movement of people has been a major goal of European integration since the 1950s.

Broadly defined, this freedom enables citizens of one Member State to travel to another, to reside and to work there (permanently or temporarily). The idea behind EU legislation in this field is that citizens from other member states should be treated equally with domestic ones – they should not be discriminated against.

The main provision of the freedom of movement of persons is Article 45 of the TFEU that prohibits restrictions on the basis of nationality.

Read more about this topic:  Internal Market

Famous quotes containing the words free, movement and/or people:

    He who is upright in his way of life and free from sin.
    Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65–8 B.C.)

    Every little movement has a meaning all its own.
    Otto Harbach (1873–1963)

    Some people are like ants. Give them a warm day and a piece of ground and they start digging. There the similarity ends. Ants keep on digging. Most people don’t. They establish contact with the soil, absorb so much vernal vigor that they can’t stay in one place, and desert the fork or spade to see how the rhubarb is coming and whether the asparagus is yet in sight.
    Hal Borland (1900–1978)