EU takes UK to European court over citizens’ rights post-Brexit

BRUSSELS (AFP) — The European Union on Monday said it was taking Britain to the bloc's top court for infringing rules on the free movement of EU citizens and their family members after Brexit.

The European Commission said it believed that "there were several shortcomings" in Britain's implementation of treaties.

The commission said it decided to refer Britain to the European Court of Justice "for failure to comply with EU law on free movement of EU citizens and their family members at the end of 2020," during a transition period following Britain's formal departure.

The Labour government elected in Britain this year has sought to improve ties with Brussels after years of post-Brexit rancor under previous Conservative administrations.

A British government spokesperson said the case related to issues from when the U.K. was still in the EU and the transition period that followed, declining to comment further on legal proceedings.

"We remain focused on working to reset our relationship with the EU and to make Brexit work for the British people," said the spokesman.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks with commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in October, and this month finance minister Rachel Reeves became the first British chancellor since Brexit to attend a meeting of eurozone counterparts.

Starmer has been invited to join a gathering of the EU's 27 leaders in February focused on defense cooperation, with a first EU-U.K. summit slated for early next year.

The post-Brexit case was initiated in May 2020, when the EU sent a letter of formal notice to Britain complaining that national legislation limited the scope of beneficiaries of EU free movement law.

Despite exchanges with London, the commission said that "several elements of the grievances remain unaddressed including on the rights of workers and the rights of extended family members" — warranting legal action.

Britain formally left the EU on Jan. 31, 2020.

But under the "Withdrawal Agreement," EU citizens and their family members who moved to Britain before the end of 2020 were granted broadly the same rights they had before Brexit.

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By Agence France-Presse