13. Free movement of natural persons and citizenship of the Union

Abstract

This chapter discusses EU law on the free movement of persons. It shows how the EU judiciary and legislature have responded to some of the challenges raised by EU migration. It highlights the following themes: the erosion of the requirement of an interstate element; how little it takes to establish an obstacle to free movement and thus a breach by the state of EU law; the need for the state to establish a justification in order to preserve state interests, but notes that what the state can do to protect that interest is curtailed by the principles of human rights and proportionality. It shows that the Court views cases on the free movement of natural persons through a citizenship lens and thus is more willing to embrace a human rights dimension than it would be in cases on free movement of legal persons.